‘Petey is so special:’ Lexington pet store asks public for help after rare lizard is stolen

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Most Valuable Pets, a Lexington pet store located in Beaumont Center, is looking for a rare lizard which they say was stolen Saturday night.

“I just couldn’t believe that somebody would do that,” said Melissa Whitton.

Whitton owns Most Valuable Pets and says she was shocked when she realized someone had stolen her lizard named Petey.

“They came straight through the doors, straight over to the cage and took him,” Whitton said.

Whitton says Petey is a rare type of lizard to come by, so she thinks the people who did this either saw resale value in the lizard or wanted him for their own.

“It’s called a monkey-tailed skink,” said Whitton. “They’re from Madagascar, you cannot collect any of them from out of the wild so all of them have to be bred in captivity, and they are very difficult to breed.”

Most Valuable Pets has a wide array of animals from birds to bearded dragons, but the workers here say that losing even one of their precious pets breaks their heart.

“I know that people don’t think of stealing an animal like kidnapping a child,” Whitton said. “But if you’re bonded to an animal and that animal is special to you, then that takes away a piece of your heart when someone takes it.”

Whitton says time is of the essence when it comes to finding Petey. She says the skink has a very special food requirements, and that there is a three-week window of opportunity before his health begins to decline drastically.

Whitton says they have filed a police report. But she added they don’t want to press charges, they just want to bring their lizard back.

“Petey is so special,” said Whitton. “I love him and I so hope they will bring him back.”

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