Hello to everyone!
 
I come asking for some advice.
 
Here in Elyria, Ohio where I live, there is a pet store about 5 minutes
from us.  It's not part of a chain, it seems to be an independantly owned
and operated place.
 
My husband first started to go there when he began his saltwater fish tank
about two years ago.  He has since gone elsewhere because he doesn't feel
the fish and corals he sees there are healthy, and doesn't wish to
contaminate his tank.
 
Our history of ferrets with them is about two years old.  We had a ferret
that we wanted a playmate for.  Around here, unfortunately, ferrets sell
like wild fire.  We were put on a list.  One night we got a call saying they
had two ferrets, a full grown male and female.  We ran in to get the female.
In retrospect, I kick myself every time I think of the male, we should have
gotten him, too.  The day after we purchased Bailey, we rushed her to the
vet.  She could not walk, she had nightmares, she would not eat.  The end
result was that she was severely under-nourished, dehydrated and had worms.
Her body temperature was 98.7 degrees when we took her to the vet, and the
vet said she most likely would not have lived.  We were furious, not at the
pet store for mistreating her, because I do not believe they caused her
illness.  What I do believe is that they did not have her checked out or
care about her condition once they received her.  They paid for Bailey's
medicine, contacted the owner of the male who had also been bought and
recommended he be checked out, also.
 
We purchased two kits from them a year later, both happy and healthy babies.
Sturmie and Tassie are great.  Then, less than a year ago, we bought another
boy.  Howie was the last thing I will ever buy from that store.  I just
can't stand it anymore.  And here is where I ask advice from.
 
They house their kits in what ever sized empty glass display aquarium type
box they can.  They put them in pine bedding.  When we got Howie, the water
bottle was rigged half-heartidly to the side of the cage and he could not
get water from it.  I held him for about 5 minutes while he drank and drank.
Today, the bottle was the same and had mold on it.  I took it off and held
it so the nine babies could drink, and they drank and drank.  They had no
little in the potty pan, and a huge pile of poop in one corner, with flies
swarming around the poop and the babies.  Now, the babies were *beautiful*,
just amazingly gorgeous!  An albino with blazing red eyes, a silver mit, a
GORGEOUS boy I nearly bought who was the blackest ferret I have ever seen
(those huge boy-paws and huge boy-nose gets me every time).
 
The certificate of clean health from Marshall Farms was posted, dated the
7th.  The shipment arrived the 11th.
 
I can't stand this anymore.  I can't sit by and watch them display the
babies like that.  If they want to be ignorant, that is their choice, but
I can NOT take the chance that they will pass on their ignorance to a
customer.  The babies were *extremely* nippy, being so young, but there was
no warning, no literature, no nothing.  I wanted to ask for the manager on
duty but feared my emotions would get the best of me, so I came home to calm
down.
 
What do I do?  I do NOT want this to be a drive-by criticism of this store.
I want to *do* something, I want to help, not just bitch and ride off on my
high horse.  Should I write a letter to the owner and managers?  Should I
call and ask to speak to them about their ferrets face to face?  Both?  Do
I call the Animal Protection League?
 
My husband and I would be more than willing to go into this store every time
they get a shipment and set up a cage for them.  I would bring my own pans,
my own litter, my own food, my own blankets, my own water bottles.  I would
HAPPILY print out copies of the Ferret Faq for the store employees, I would
bring on my back issues of Modern Ferret.  I would happily train the
employees (since we never see the same people twice), clean the cages, buy
the food, print out the pamphlets, everything, for FREE!!  All they would
have to do is agree to it.
 
All I can think about are those 9 happy, plump, beautiful little babies and
worry about who is going to buy them.
 
Linda, have you had any previous experience with any pet stores?
 
Thank you for any advice you can give, I really want to do this right.
 
Julie
[Posted in FML issue 2402]