Well folks, I was in Petco today buying some supplies.  Low and behold,
what do you think I saw?  Seven babies from Triple F Farms.  You know what?
They were far too young to be there.  I spoke with the manager and she even
complained to Petco's corporate office about two of them (eyes barely
open).  She approximated two of the seven to be about 5 1/2 weeks and the
others were probably six 1/2 weeks at the most.  Charming isn't it?
 
The actual manager of the pet store has even complained and told me that
she does not condone the fact that they continue to sell these animals.
She is a ferret owner and is very upset at her own employer.  I also asked
her why they were lining the cage with corn cob.  She told me that she does
not agree with it and would prefer to switch back to the rolled paper, but
corporate told them they have to use corn cob (she is aware of the risk
involved when ferrets ingest it, causing blockages).
 
I will NOT tell you her name or even which Petco I was in (I live in
Washington State) because that would put her job at risk.  She did give me
the number for the corporate complaint line.  I encourage ALL OF YOU to
bombard them with calls about the fact that they should not be selling
animals - just supplies.  The only way to make a dent and stop these
practices is to hurt the big farms "in the pocketbook" which would mean
ragging on the pet stores at the corporate level.  I was told that the
corporate pet buyers do not know ANYTHING about ferrets nor are they
owners.  Let's band together and educate them and get them to re-evaluate
their practices.
 
I hope that this manager is taken seriously in her quest to stop the
shipments of ferrets that are far too young to be removed from mom.  What
is really sick is that these come already altered which would mean that
they were "done" before 5 weeks.  I did not pick them up to examine whether
the stitches were there or not and they were sleeping, so I did not disturb
them.
 
I called and left a message on the voice mail of the customer service
manager and I am trying to get names and numbers for the corporate buyers.
I do not feel these people are doing this on purpose, they just do not have
a clue on what is being shipped to each store.  SHAME ON TRIPLE F - they
are the bad guys in this.  I am going to be contacting them also about
this.
 
I will not back down on my quest to make pet stores, supply stores only!
Do the cats and dogs come into the pet stores already altered?  NOPE, so
why do the ferrets need to be?
 
Here is the number for the Petco complaint line: 800-571-2952.
 
Take Care~
[Posted in FML issue 2721]