My wife and I were near the Petco (located by the super wal mart at 6140
University Drive NW, in Huntsville, Alabama 35806 (256) 837-7800) this week
and we were both disturbed by what we heard and saw.  They had approx. 13
or 14 ferrets in one of those glass cases.  The glass case is approx. 3.5
feet or so square and about 20 inches high.  Several of the ferrets looked
sickly and ranged in ages from about six weeks to about 15 weeks ( a
guess).  All 4 corners of the cage were full of poop and looked like it
hadn't been cleaned in days.  There were only two water bottles in the
cage, one very small one hung low for the small ones and one big one hung
way up high.  The little bottle looked empty so I went over to one of the
employees and told him because the little ones couldn't reach the big
bottle.
 
Well he went right over and opened the cage with his key and the bottle was
full and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Then my wife wanted to hold one of
the babies and he started talking to us.  First he said " you DON'T want
to hold these they BITE.  We have tried everything to stop it and nothing
works.  These aren't MF ferrets.  These came from another breeder because
we can't get any more from MF because of the Humane Society lawsuit in the
courts over MF's mistreatment of ferrets" ( anybody out there heard of
this?  sounds like a bunch of hooey).  We talked further ( he did most of
the talking, I just asked questions like I didn't really know much about
ferrets) and the more my wife got interested in a BEW male the more he
tried to discourage us from getting it.  At one point he said " I shouldn't
tell you this secret but I will and you probably won't want them after you
hear it".  To which we replied " what??"  Then he said " these ferrets are
half mink and that's why they are so much trouble and wont act right."  At
this point we weren't sure what the hell was going on or what he was trying
to do so we just left.  It was really strange.  He talked like he was the
manager ( he is short, heavy, Caucasian, military short hair cut, wire rim
glasses around late 20's early 30's).
 
I felt so sorry for all the little ferrets, only about five looked healthy.
There was one baby albino male and he was so thin he looked like a female.
It just broke my heart.
 
I don't know what to do or who to call about this.  What I saw bordered
on malfeasance, at least in my opinion.  If any of you are from the north
Alabama area please stop in and take a look.  I was so mad I wanted to put
him in a cage and make him walk in his own crap.  What an idiot.  If he
had had an angora he probably would have told me it was a ferret bread
with a guinea pig.  Geeesh.
 
Perplexed in Alabama
 
Weezzer & Pennie
& the Rug Monsters ( Peppin, Sheeba, and Grendel)
[Posted in FML issue 3128]