While visiting the Seattle area I had occasion to stop into the
Southshore Mall in Aberdeen, WA (http://www.southshoremall.com/html/).
While there I happened upon a Scamps Pet Center, and I stopped in for
a few minutes to check on the ferrets.

There were three young ferrets living in a small guinea pig type cage
fil led with either pine or aspen shavings, with a full water bottle,
no bedding, and a bowl about 1/4 full of timothy hay pellets (and wood
shavings). In one corner was evidence of some recent clear greenish
jello poops - probably a result of eating the timothy pellets.

I asked for the manager but only one staff person was there and he
was not the manager. I informed him of the food issue and he seemed
genuinely surprised and concerned. Together we changed out the timothy
hay pellets for some kibble that was kept in a Tupperware container
marked "Ferret Food".

I'm not sure what kind of food it was but it definitely looked like
ferret food. All three ferrets immediately filled their bellies. They
were very hungry.

All of the ferrets looked to be about two or three months old and
seemed to have normal weight and bodies. I picked up the biggest
one and he was NOT happy about that. He made several very fast and
committed attempts to reach around and bite my wrist, and managed
to nick me with his sharp teeth before I was able to scruff him.

I spent a few minutes with the employee explaining why proper food is
important, and I also told him that nobody would ever consider buying
these ferrets at $99 each if they have biting problems as bad as the
one I tried to handle has. I talked about how to nip train and
socialize them, so at least if someone wanted to come in and hold
one they would not be rewarded with a bite wound. He admitted that
they "probably needed to handle the ferrets more often". I neglected
to mention concerns about wood shavings and the small cage with no
bedding - I did not even think about these issues until later in the
day, long after I had left the area.

I live in Virginia and this is likely the last time I'll ever be back
to this store. If we have any FMLers in the Aberdeen, WA area, it would
be good to stop by and check on the condition of the ferrets there
(and from what I see on the web, ANY Scamps Pet Center, anywhere). The
staff person that was on duty at the time was open and receptive to my
help. Perhaps with some follow up, working with the store manager and
staff, etc., their ferrets can get some attention and socialization
time, which may prevent them from developing bad "I want down! -
CHOMP!" habits, which may prevent them fro m being dumped after they
go home, etc. Ensuring that good food is present wouldn't hurt either.
I'd want to bite someone too if I was being forced to live on a diet of
guinea pig food.

I want to write a letter to the Scamps head office but they don't have
a web site for the chain, at least not one that comes up in a Google
search. Does anyone have any contact information for Scamps?

Jack

[Posted in FML 5566]