Oh, I'm so pissed off right now....
 
I stopped by a small pet store I pass all the time on my way to our
regular pet store, just to see what they had.  In the back of the store,
they have one little white ferret - in a ten gallon aquarium on the rodent
wall!  She's sleeping on wood shavings, has a water bottle and an empty
food dish.  No litter pan, no toys, no nothing.  I can guarantee nobody
comes by to play with her.  She looked healthy enough but her coat was
perhaps a little dirty.  I didn't get a good look at her because she was
asleep.  No wonder, she's probably bored to death in there!  The smell of
this store as I walked in (litter and unwashed animals) should have been
enough to warn me.
 
Ooo, the ignorance of some people!
 
I didn't get up the courage to confront the manager.  I just had to get
out of there, vowing to never buy anything from that store.  One clerk at
our regular store - herself owned by ferrets - said she has even seen
them keep multiple ferrets in that aquarium, but that at least they sell
pretty quickly.  THIS store keeps their ferrets in a large glass tank,
perhaps three to four feet square, at waist level in the middle of the
store.  They play with the ferrets daily and we do too when we go in
there.  (Actually, they even keep their hamsters in the same kind of
tank!)
 
I just want to buy the little fuzzball to get it out of there, but I've
read the comments that this just confirms to the store owners that their
methods work.  I can see the logic in that, but I just hate that these
innocent little guys get caught in the middle.  I just hope *somebody*
gives her a good home soon - though I know these people can't tell a
potential buyer how to care for a ferret.
 
I'm really torn about commercial sales of animals.  It encourages
unethical mistreatment of them like this, on part of some stores and some
breeders.  It also allows them to go to homes where they don't receive
proper care.  On the other hand, if it weren't for commercial sales, I
never would have learned about ferrets, either.  I was one of those people
who basically knew the word, but had gross misconceptions about them.
Now I understand.
 
Sorry this is so long, I just had to get it out.
 
Roger (Angry in Tampa)
Digger and Bear (asleep and happy)
[Posted in FML issue 3654]