Just want to take this time to THANK Petco for the care they give the
ferrets here in this area. The Petco manager who is over 3 States has
been an advocate of the ferrets. Since she came on board, the employees
have been specially guided as to how to care for the ferrets. She turns
all unadoptable ferrets over to us and offers to pay medical expenses
through their sister company If we have a complaint, we are to talk to
the store manager first, if nothing is done, we contact her. Believe
me, she reports back most usually within an hour from the time we
report a problem. They have let us use their meeting room for our
affairs - even to the degree one time they had a store meeting of their
own, forgot about us coming, so they cleared the room and held theirs
in the storage room so we could have our meeting......

We couldn't have it any better here in this area for the ferrets except
maybe for them to stop selling ferrets but then it would be up to Mom
and Pop stores or something like Petland to handle the ferrets. There
is no central control over them as there is at Petco.

Infuriately I did talk the owner of a pet store here in this area and
with me having over 84 ferrets in the shelter, around 70 in our foster
program, there is a back up at both Path Valley and Marshall's they
can't fill the orders, there are back orders for ferrets. I don't know,
can we really blame the stores for filling needs - its the public's
fault, if they would quit buying ferrets from the stores, then there
would not be the demand and the stores would quit "stocking" them. It's
merchandise to them. The stores are in the business of making money so
they aren't going to turn down a "product" that makes money, not unless
its immoral or illegal. If they don't stock what the public wants, the
public takes their business elsewhere. For the public, well we know how
they treat their purchases with the ferrets pouring in here daily. At
least I will say for Petco, EVEN when they have ferrets in their store,
they are referring people to us, they are handing out our brochures,
they prefer to sell cages and foods. I would rather work with them than
fight them as when that was done, we got no where. At least we are
saving their sick ones and the "defective" ones, where in the past they
were just put down. Some day I'll write about Twista the brain damaged
kit they gave us and is a pure delight, she enjoys play more than any
normal ferret, a total delight even with her defects.

Millie and her ferrets and Danes
www.txferretrescue.org 

[Posted in FML 6753]