ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A Nob Hill exotic pet store went into a ‘panic’ after someone walked by and vandalized their window. It created a dangerous situation for the critters inside.
“We have rats, hundreds of tarantulas, snakes, all kinds of good stuff,” said Dylan Mueller. Mueller is part owner of Predator and Prey Exotics.
Early Monday morning, their surveillance footage caught a man grabbing a rock and tossing it directly at the window. The rock shattered it. Mueller said it was about $1,000 in damages.
The damage to the window alone is a pain.
“You know, that sucks, but insurance can cover it,” said Mueller. However, the more significant concern was the nearly 500 reptiles, bugs, and creatures inside the store when the window was broken.
“All the animals are cold-blooded, so during the freeze and the window being broken. It kinda just threw everything into panic,” said Mueller.
Normally, they keep the shop at around 71 to 75 degrees. The morning when Mueller was notified of what happened the temperature had dropped to the low 60s.
“If they get under 50 degrees, it’s pretty detrimental,” said Mueller.
Staff quickly got to work to patch the hole in the window using duct tape, and for now, they are playing the waiting game.
Thankfully, they’ve been able to maintain the heat to keep all of the animals safe.
“It would have been a huge loss if the alarm system didn’t call us to let us know that something had happened,” said Mueller, “There was no benefit for them. It was just throwing a rock through the window and making somebody else’s day bad.”
Mueller said they have to wait for the window to get fixed until November 23.
