Lisette wrote
>I attended an all day seminar today, and visited a Petco in Skokie,Ill. on
>Toughy Ave. during lunch.  All the animals were in pine bedding.  I held
>four of the baby ferrets.  All four were sneezing though they had only
>been there two days.  The new manager was not in, and no one knew the
>animals were in bedding that was potentially very bad for the animals.
 
I too was at that SAME Petco in Skokie yesterday evening and DID have the
opportunity to speak with the manager.  When I brought up the subject of
the wood shavings he replied (in an exasperated manner) that the shavings
were pine not cedar and therefore OK for ferrets, and that concern for
respiratory problems were just unfounded.
 
In defense of the manager he seemed like a nice enough person just badly
misinformed.  But petstores need to be held accountable for the information
they feed the public as they are considered to be in a position of
authority to people unfamiliar with the pets.  When my husband and I first
considered ferrets we were in a small petstore looking for a turtle (!!)
and the salesperson led us over to the ferrets saying they were simple to
care for, lived in a small cage and more fun to cuddle, just like a cat!
Luckily we were smart enough to research ferrets before we purchased one
but I know there will be many people out there who won't and will be
extremely surprised and/or dismayed to find their new little additions only
have the occasional litterbox in common with cats.  It is especially
disturbing that a large national store like Petco not only doesn't have
better training for managers but doesn't have standardized guidelines as
well.  Perhaps if more of us become involved and vocal in this, more stores
will learn to accept responsibly for the animals they sell.
 
sincerely,
Cate & Vinnie(the junior weasel who lived in a fish aquarium in a pet
store)
[Posted in FML issue 2844]