‘They’re a rare species.’ This Lexington pet store hopes to get a stolen lizard back.
A local pet store in Lexington is hoping for the safe return of a rare lizard stolen from the store over the weekend.
Petey was at Most Valuable Pets, a pet shop on Beaumont Centre Parkway. The store’s manager Hannah Huffman said the theft of the lizard named Petey, a monkey tail skink, took place at around 6:30 p.m. Saturday. It happened about a half-hour past closing time, although it’s not uncommon for the store to stay open after closing time to accommodate customers.
“They’re a rare species,” Huffman said. “They’re found in Madagascar. You don’t see them a whole lot because you can’t take them out of the wild. They have to be captive-bred, so he’s one of the very few captive-bred ones in the United States.”
The theft was captured on the store’s surveillance system. In the video, two people appear to come into the store and immediately go towards Petey’s tank. They appear to take him out of the tank. A woman initially hid him under a jacket on her shoulder before putting him in her purse, based on the video.
Afterward, the two appeared to walk around the store for a few minutes before leaving.
Huffman said the store handed its evidence over to the Lexington Police Department, and investigators are looking into leads.
Petey’s breed of a monkey tail skink is rare and he’s one of the few of his kind in the United States. He was first brought to the store as a juvenile roughly six months ago and had doubled in size since, Huffman said.
Petey himself was not for sale but the store does advertise for other monkey tail skinks, according to Huffman. There was a price tag on Petey’s tank, which may have been a reason for his theft.
The suspects pointed at the price tag on the video, Huffman said.
“I guess they saw that price tag and either wanted it for themselves or thought they could make a buck,” Huffman said.
Petey was used a lot for “pet parties,” where he made appearances at birthday parties or schools for educational purposes.
“The owner, Melissa, she has wanted one – it’s like her favorite reptile breed. She’s just fascinated by them,” Huffman said. “She’s wanted one for years but they’ve just been unavailable, you just can’t find them anywhere.”
Huffman said the store doesn’t want to press charges. They just want Petey returned safely.
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 2:09 PM.
