I've been to 5 Petcos in Massachusetts.  One had a rat that was missing
an eye and was not receiving medical care.  I bought her at a 10%
discount.  This same Petco had ferrets in one of those hexagonal glass
display cages.  The cage was covered in poo all the way around and there
were flies.
 
Another petco had a dead rat in a cage and its cage mates were very ill.
 
Another Petco had 2 ferrets that had been there for over 8 months.  How
do I know this?  Because I had bought my first baby ferret there and went
there a lot to buy ferret food.  These poor ferrets finally came home
with me after being there so long (got them at a discount).  For the
first 6 months they would not let me touch them, love them, play with
them.  They will never be like "normal" ferrets but I love them just
the same.  After having Sketchy for over a year he has recently started
giving me kisses on the lips. =)
 
The fourth Petco is ok.  Only complaint is they put males and females
together a lot when it comes to the rodents.  Other than that I haven't
seen anything disturbing.
 
The 5th has no complaints from me.  Every time I go in there it is clean
and the animals seem just fine.  So there are exceptions.
 
I appreciate the people on this list that work in Petcos that do truly
care about animals.  Please continue to educate your fellow employees.
 
Since Purchasing Sketchy and Doofy (the ones that were in Petco over 8
months) I have stopped buying animals from ANY petstore and refuse to
buy Marshall Products.
 
Sorry for the long post.
 
~Susie and Brood~
[Posted in FML issue 4397]