Is stealing crabs wrong?

[WingedWalrus]

I guess to play devil's advocate you could say that stealing a few crabs could be okay in that it saves the lives of the crabs without actually giving money to those who put them in the bad conditions in the first place. You're saving the life without paying the "bad guys" to go and put more lives in the same exact conditions. You'd probably need a team of people doing this with tons of crabs though, to make a big difference.

Stealing is still wrong, but I have to admit, I don't think I would feel badly on the inside for rescuing an animal from horrid conditions. I don't know someone wouldn't just pay for the crabs they were rescuing though.

[renewed_mind]

I guess to play devil's advocate you could say that stealing a few crabs could be okay in that it saves the lives of the crabs without actually giving money to those who put them in the bad conditions in the first place. You're saving the life without paying the "bad guys" to go and put more lives in the same exact conditions. You'd probably need a team of people doing this with tons of crabs though, to make a big difference.

Stealing is still wrong, but I have to admit, I don't think I would feel badly on the inside for rescuing an animal from horrid conditions. I don't know someone wouldn't just pay for the crabs they were rescuing though.

I actually read of someone who rescued a crab from a pet store he was sticking his pincer up in the air then to his mouth repeatedly and after they adopted him he ate a whole cracker by himself. .. While it would save them it's wrong... and personally me being a jerk I would rather make the pet store owner or whoever feel bad if not report them for miss treatment than do that

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[crabbyd23]

It all depends on the situation.....even though stealing is wrong....it's even MORE wrong if you have the ability (and capability) to help another person, creature, etc,....but decide instead to just turn around and walk away in hopes that someone else will take care of them......in my personal situation, my local pet shop was closing for good and I rescued what I thought were the last two crabs....I came back a couple of days later and they told me that they had another one to sell that was apparently missed....I told them to call me if no one adopts it....instead the worker gave it to me Scott free! I made a difference to that little crab. With that said I wanted to leave a nice little diddy....

While walking the beach, a man saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the sea. As he came closer, he saw thousands of starfish the tide had thrown onto the beach. Unable to return to the ocean during low tide, the starfish were dying. He observed a young boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. After watching the seemingly futile effort, the observer said, "There must be thousands of starfish on this beach. It would be impossible for you to save all of them. There are simply too many. You can't possibly make a difference." The young boy smiled as he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the ocean. "It made a difference to that one," he replied.

We should all strive to make a difference when we can!

[CallaLily]

It all depends on the situation.....even though stealing is wrong....it's even MORE wrong if you have the ability (and capability) to help another person, creature, etc,....but decide instead to just turn around and walk away in hopes that someone else will take care of them......

You can make a difference without breaking the law. I don't think anyone suggested doing nothing.

[Torrie_Ann]

Which petco is it? I work at one and I can report it

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[Nate the great]

If it's wrong to steal hermit crabs from a bad situation then it is equally wrong to raid a puppy mill.

Folks, the pet store hermie trade is dependent on distributors who operate on the same level as puppy mills. And that goes double for the pet stores that sell hermies in painted shells (or, god forbid, glass shells).

You can make a legal argument against theft but you can't win an ethical argument when the theft is the lesser of 2 evils.

[Rocky]

Maybe. But I'm not about to advocate for things that are against the law (with impressionable kids running around) when you can do so much more within the law, protest, boycott, write letters, you may save thousands instead of two. And if you're busted on it then where will you be?


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[EdisNiksic]

Theft makes no sense. I work at PetSmart and when something is stolen, then it is simply stolen. Doesnt mean we are gonna stop selling it. Like for instance people steal blue buffalo dog food all the time because it is the most expensive food we sell. But that doesn't mean we are gonna stop selling blue buffalo. It just means we are gonna keep a better eye out for shoplifters. Same goes with hermits. If u want to stop the unethical sale of hermit then you have to do it through legal means. You will have a larger impact if you do it that way.

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[CallaLily]

If it's wrong to steal hermit crabs from a bad situation then it is equally wrong to raid a puppy mill

The only "raiding" that should be done in any situation where there's animal cruelty should be done by the proper authorities. That is not the same as stealing.

The average person should work within the law to try to make a difference. Educate. Write letters. Adopt. It may take longer but in the end the result will be better.

[Nate the great]

The only "raiding" that should be done in any situation where there's animal cruelty should be done by the proper authorities. That is not the same as stealing.

The average person should work within the law to try to make a difference. Educate. Write letters. Adopt. It may take longer but in the end the result will be better.

Painted shells are animal cruelty. The living conditions in the crab cage in my local Petsmart is animal cruelty. The cages they sell are evidence of intended future animal cruelty.

And as for arguing that only the authorities should act, while you're at it be sure to never stop a crime in progress, or get involved if someone is being beaten. Let the authorities handle it.

[Rocky]

We're not saying dont act, were saying you don't need to break the laws and cause trouble for everyone involved in order to do so. I can think of a dozen legal things you could do that would help crabs as a whole


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[Shawn]

Stealing is stealing. Just plain wrong. The only thing worse than a thief is a politician.... wait, I guess they're the same.

[wodesorel]

If you get caught stealing an animal it can easily lead to an animal cruelty conviction against YOU, along with prosecution for theft.

And that doesn't go away, it'll follow you for the rest of your life. For anyone ever thinking about going into animal care sometime in the future - kind of hard to get a job working with animals when you've been convicted of harming an animal. (And the legal system will look at it that way - stealing an animal from a pet shop is not a rescue situation or a legal raid. It's animal abuse.) Stealing is not worth it, and it doesn't change anything. There are other legal ways to make more of a long-term impact.

[Rocky]

It's hard to walk away sometimes, and it doesn't always feel right, but you have to think about how your actions might affect yourself and others :/ and in this case, when its just words, you have to think about how those words will affect people too. The kids that read these things on the Internet, the confused people looking for guidance, the new crab owner wanting to make a difference
Is it wrong? Ehh...
Is it a bad idea? Yes.


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[Nate the great]

Stealing is stealing. Just plain wrong. The only thing worse than a thief is a politician.... wait, I guess they're the same.

I agree. When the animal was stolen from the wild a wrong was committed, yes.