Dooks to all!  It saddens me to have to see things like this, but I
happened to be with a friend getting dog food at Petland on Bridge Street
in Chillicothe, Ohio on September 4.  Of course, I went right for the
ferrets and noticed that they had an unusually large amount.  They are in a
large container with glassed in walls and shavings on the floor, no litter
box and one plastic ball with holes in it for them to play with with a
couple of balls strewn around.  No food dish was present, so I asked the
sales person about it and she informed me they were washing it in the back.
About 3 minutes later she dropped a very large container of pellets in the
pen and it was like throwing a steak in a group of starving rottweilers.  I
have never heard such a commotion, lots of biting, screeching and fighting.
Obviously they were starved.  I then asked her how much they fed the
ferrets and she said morning and night (I seriously doubted this one).  She
reached over and felt their water bottle and found it empty (I hadn't even
noticed that yet) and filled it which started a bigger frenzy for the
water.  I was very vocal in my dismay and I think even embarrassed my
friend, but I was very upset.  I left the store about 10 minutes later
and noted that the ferrets were still piling up on their backs fighting
for the water and had consumed about 1/3 of the bottle.
 
I was wondering if someone more ferret savy wanted to go do an in-service
or something?  I am going to call the large Petland office (regional
office?) in Chillicothe that I have seen and complain and I am going to
call the store to complain.  I would volunteer to do the in-service with
the store manager and workers, but I don't feel I am as educated as some of
the other ferret people around Columbus.  I only have one ferret and have
had her for about 1.5 years, but would be willing to accompany that person
if they wanted.  I'll post here what I find out from the manager and the
office.
[Posted in FML issue 3166]