Activist group continues its ‘Walk for Spur' the giant tortoise at pet store in Lincolnwood. But the owner is over it: ‘I don't engage them'

Chicago Tribune

24-06-2025

Kenn Bearman said he has owned The Animal Store in Lincolnwood since the 1990s, but in the last few years, he's been confronted with what he calls 'pop-up' demonstrations by an animal activist group that he has come to ignore.
'I don't engage with them, he said, 'because there's a different story every time. Basically, if you start one argument, you're going down a rabbit hole.'
He is referring to a group of animal rights activists upset about what they consider the maltreatment of an African sulcata — or spurred — tortoise named Spur that is housed at the pet store.
In one of the latest pop-ups, a group of about 15 demonstrators led a protest that started at the store on Touhy Avenue and made its way to outside of Lincolnwood mayor Jesal Patel's home. They were aiming, along the way, to draw awareness to the tortoise's plight.
'The reason we went to the mayor's home is because we have to step up our game,' said Jodie Wiederkehr, founder and executive director of Chicago Alliance for Animals. 'We've also protested outside mayor Patel's business and outside Village Hall and nothing is moving them.
Carrying signs that read '#Free Spur,' 'Lincolnwood: Ban animal sales!' and 'Mayor Patel, enforce humane laws,' the protesters participated May 30 in a 'Walk for Spur.'
'We're not going to stop until Spur is in a sanctuary and rabbits are no longer sold at The Animal Store,' she said.
Wiederkehr, who led a push in 2020 to ban horse carriages in Chicago, and lobbied to close the loophole in the sale of puppies and dogs from unscrupulous sources, said she visited what she described as the over 100-pound tortoise at the Lincolnwood pet store in fall 2021. What she saw, she said, moved her group to hold peaceful protests monthly and raise the issue at almost every Village Board meeting since.
'I was horrified,' she said. 'She's a wild animal, trafficked from Africa, plopped in this 3-by-5-foot prison, and she's been in that prison for more than 35 years.'
She said she has witnessed the tortoise trying to climb up the tiled sides of the enclosure, and with her big claws, 'she slides down, hits her face, and she looks like she's trying to escape this prison.'
Wiederkehr said the tortoise sits in hay, and she has observed through a window looking from outside the store that the reptile doesn't always have water or produce to eat. Although Spur isn't for sale, her group is also upset about the other wild animals being sold in the store and wants the village to enforce an ordinance that prohibits the keeping of naturally wild animals.
Bearman calls Spur the store's ambassador. He explained to Pioneer Press that he has owned the tortoise since her infancy, keeping her after buying several of her species three decades ago. The others were sold but Spur remains and has been featured at birthday parties, as well as corporate and school events.
He said the demonstrators have presented him with varying objections to housing Spur at the pet store and selling other wild, often exotic, creatures.
'Some of them are concerned about exotic pets that are taken [out of] the wild. Some don't think pet stores should exist. Some of these people don't even think zoos should exist,' he said about the critics. 'I do not engage them' anymore.
'I've tried talking to them and reasoning with them, having conversation. But, 'it just goes on and on and on,' he said.
Bearman asserts that some of the activists' information is outright wrong.
'I have over half a dozen government agencies that I have to get permits from,' he said, mentioning the village, Cook County and the Illinois departments of Natural Resources and Agriculture among them. 'I have never once, in 30 years, been [cited] for anything.
There are a number of different fishes, mammals and other animals for sale in the store, including huge snakes. Bearman said rabbits and hedgehogs he sells have made appearances at events outside the pet store.
He said Spur, now 34 years old and weighing nearly 100 pounds, gets her fill of being out of the store. She has been known to make appearances at such places as area schools where children get to see her up close, pet her and learn more about the huge tortoise. Even visitors to the pet store can interact with Spur and take photos.
Nevertheless, Bearman said he's gotten complaints about Spur seemingly being housed alone. The pet store owner said he has tried to put other tortoises in with her but it has not worked out.
Spur 'rams them and flips them over. She wants to be by herself,' he said. 'People put their feelings on animals. That's why I don't engage with them.'
He insists that Spur is safe in her store habitat, and said if she were to be released into the wild, 'which is what they want,' Spur probably wouldn't survive. His plan is to let the giant tortoise, which is expected to reach 100 years old, live her life at the store.
'I don't want to give her up,' Bearman
said. And she's not for sale.
Mayor Patel was not unavailable for comment.
Additionally, Assistant Village Manager Madeline Farrell would not comment on the issue to Pioneer Press but instead referred to the village's official memorandum on Exotic Animal Management. The statement outlines the village's response to the group's concerns about animal welfare and village code – offering no rebukes or pushback.
Village officials said code enforcement staff have visited The Animal Store to inspect whether naturally wild animals are being kept or sold there in violation of village code.
Bearman stressed that he has never been cited.
Wiederkehr said her group has also called on the village to enforce the Cook County code regarding the sale of animals.
But village officials countered that request by explaining, in part, that 'Village Code pre-empts the County's ordinance …'
The village statement also instructs that 'questions regarding Spur's health be directed to the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which employs inspectors with the veterinary expertise necessary to make health-related assessments.'
The village also notes that state inspections are conducted at The Animal Store.
Meanwhile, Wiederkehr said 'our goal is not to deal with the exploiters, and not to harass the pet store owner, but to get officials to enforce the law.'
She said her group is willing to pay for the transport of Spur to a turtle sanctuary in Tucson, Arizona. Also, they plan to keep appealing to the Village Board.
'We'll just keep speaking out for these animals who can't speak for themselves,' Wiederkehr said.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer. Pioneer Press staff contributed.