I've been thinking a lot about the Petco issue the past few days; here's my
two cents.  I live in CA and as much as I want ferrets legal here, I dread
the day when they'll be readily available at pet stores for the impulse
buyers.
 
Petco does very well in CA even though they can't of course sell ferrets.
Although I don't consider myself an educated business person at all, it
seems to me Petco would like exposure at any animal function because people
attending these functions all buy animal foods and supplies.  So maybe
their goal in lending support to the ferret function isn't so much to
attract ferret buyers, but to attract the animal product buyers.  So while
Petco gets some exposure to a "captive" audience, the two shelters have an
opportunity to do some ferret education and most importantly spread the
word that there is an alternative to buying ferrets at pet stores.  Kind of
a trade off.
 
It would also be a benefit for the ferret community to have an amicable
relationship with Petco so that they are more receptive to training and
educating their employees handling ferrets or perhaps even offering a
ferret education clinic to their customers when purchasing a ferret.  I
know I will be willing to donate my time to share what I have learned after
being owned by ferrets for the past ten years with new ferret owners when
ferrets are finally legalized in CA.
 
I guess what I'm trying to say is, Petco is big across the U.S., they
aren't going anywhere whether ferret people shop there or not.  The ferret
community needs to come together, spread ferret education, and raise
ferrets' image to the level of dogs and cats which will hopefully convince
Petco to stop selliing ferrets and let the shelters use their premises for
adoptions.
 
Buffy & Toeby's Mom
[Posted in FML issue 2676]