Karen,
 
Please send along the details for the pet shop: name, address, phone
number.  then contact the michigan department of agriculture to make a
complaint.  make sure it's a detailed complaint with all the pet shop
details and information from your visit, what you personally witnessed.
make sure to include the filth (since you're a ferret owner you can guess
how much filth was built up), if the critters were properly fed (softened
food under 10 weeks) and if the ferrets were thin or otherwise unhealthy.
 
unfortunately the dept of ag has little power to do anything to pet
shops.  you could also contact animal control in your area, although
that's sometimes more perilous for the critters if the AC won't deal with
them.  for example, macomb county will only kill ferrets they take in!
hopefully you're in genessee county and will have better luck.
 
i'd be happy to write to the pet shop and offer to take any ferrets that
need health care, such as the critter with the deformed teeth...but sadly
the shops often won't release critters, they'll only send them back to
marshalls if they can't sell them so as to gain a credit. :(
 
did you talk with the store manager about the poor conditions?  my voice
will be weak indeed without someone who's visited the shop from the area
speaking up - especially if you mention that you will make it your
business to make sure other flint residents stop patronizing that store.
 
after you see the dept of ag's response and talk with the store owner,
another step to take is to contact every possible media outlet in your
area.  smaller publications care about community issues, and a bad pet
shop is a newsworthy community issue for a wee paper. :)  definately
visit the store regularly over the next week to check on conditions.
i'm especially worried about the one with the deformed teeth, since
such young babies often have enough trouble eating. :(
 
if you'll send along the pet shop info i'll fire off a letter tomorrow.
i don't get the fml so you can send to [log in to unmask]
please include any further decriptive detail about the ferrets from your
visit...it's hard to convince someone to give up the ferrets when i don't
have lots of detail as to how bad off they are, know what i mean?
 
nanci
motor city ferrets
www.motorcityferrets.org
[Posted in FML issue 4469]