Tonight I was doing what I do best (that is, shopping) in the Oaks mall.  I
went in to their pet store, Fish-n-Critters, to "check on" the ferrets.  For
the past month and a half they have had 2 ferrets that haven't sold.  They
are getting bigger, so they have been "marked down" from $130 to $100.
Everytime I've been in there, the ferrets have no food, no toys, and a dirty
(poopy) cage.  Tonight the pile of poop revealed diahrrea from both the
ferrets and some green stools from at least one of them.  The bottom of the
cage is wire, and there's nothing to protect the ferrets' little paws.  This
alone has made me angry enough.  But tonight when I went in I was totally
enraged... there were four baby ferrets- I'd say not a day older than four
weeks!  The poor things could hardly walk- they just kind of wobbled around
the cage.  The litter box, their bed, and the food dish were all too high
for them to climb into.  They were all huddled on the floor in a pile.  No
blankets, no toys.  They had some sort of mush in their bowl, but I have to
wonder if they shouldn't still be nursing from their mom.  I am not the type
of person to complain about anything, normally.  But this whole situation
infuriated me so much!  I spoke to the kid who had been left in charge of
the store for the night.  He said no one who worked there was particularly
knowledgeable about ferrets.  I got the names and numbers of the manager and
owner from him, and I intend to call them tomorrow.  I don't know what I can
do other than point out the awful conditions they're in, tell him the little
ones are way too little, and offer to help by bringing them blankets and
toys and maybe taking care of them a bit.  I must say I am really pissed at
Marshall Farms... I know they send kits out really young, but this is
ridiculous!  Well, if anyone has any advice, or has ever dealt with this
before, let me know.  This is the firs time I have seen anything quite this
bad around here.
[Posted in FML issue 2200]