I've recently been contacted by some ferret rescue people in the area and
have gotten involved with them.  On Thursday night I got a call from a
lady who said a friend of hers had seen a ferret at a local pet store
(Safari Pets in Superior, WI) and the ferret wasn't doing well.
 
The short of it is, the owner gave the ferret (his name's Buddy) to the
store on consignment to have them sell it for her, because she couldn't
take care of it anymore.  It was there for about a month before it started
getting sick and couldn't walk.  Last Friday we contacted the owner and
she said she'd give him to us so he could get medical attention.  (We
are kinda the Twin Ports branch of the Frolic ferret shelter out of
Stillwater, MN.) So I went and picked him up and brought him home.  The
pet store had been feeding him bird seed!
 
The part that pisses me off (sorry BIG if you need to sensor this go
ahead) is that they are a PET STORE!!!!!  Why the hell didn't they know
what to feed a ferret before deciding that they wanted to sell them?  And
if they didn't know anything about ferrets, why didn't they buy a book?
I've seen one called "Ferrets for Dummies."
 
Anyhow, Buddy is doing better.  He's been eating and they gave him
medicine for an ulcer.  And now that he's gotten some real food his
strength is coming back and he's starting to stand up again.
 
Now my question is, does anyone know if we might have a legal issue
against this pet store for animal neglect?  I don't know what the laws in
Wisconsin are and neither does the shelter (based out of MN).  If anyone
knows anything or has an idea of where to look for info, please let me
know.  This is such an important issue to me.  We were lucky to get Buddy
while there was still time, but who knows maybe next time it won't be like
that.
 
Please email me if you have any info.
 
Thank you,
 
Cynthia Jennerman
[Posted in FML issue 3579]