>From: Linda Iroff <[log in to unmask]>
>Print a copy of Pam Greene's mini-FAQ (http://www.ferretcentral.org) or
>similar ferret care booklet.
[snip]
>Check back a week later. If your booklet is gone, express concern (NOT
>anger). After all, you are trying to help them out at your own expense.
>Make another if you have to. Check back periodically and bring in more
>one-pagers as needed. Over time, maybe the employees will read the stuff
>and learn something.
Linda has something here. So much depends on how you approach the store
manager/employees. If you have made up your mind that they are just a
bunch of jerks, and you approach them with that attitude, you've made an
enemy, not an ally, and unless the conditions are so bad that the
authorities need to be called in, there's no need to make an enemy.
Example: I recently sold some young spiny mice to a small store in town.
I like this store and feel it is better than the larger store on the other
side of town (and even that one's not so bad). However, since they hadn't
apparently had spiny mice before, I thought it would be good to provide
them with a care sheet. So I typed up a one page sheet, made copies, and
took it in. I approached them like this: "Since I provided you with the
spiny mice, I thought I'd give you something to impress your customers
with." The woman was quite happy to have them, she said she would enjoy
reading it and asked me some questions about the mice. Now, this person is
not your typical employee anyway; she is concerned about the animals and
that they are taken care of properly, so I had an advantage already. But
what I'm trying to say is that if you go to the manager and give them the
info you want them to have and pass on to customers, and you explain that
it will impress customers to have a pet store who gives them more than just
the animal and a receipt, then you will probably get much better responses.
If your attitude is "You suck, but I want to help the animals here anyway"
you're not likely to get a friendly response.
And on a personal note: I got my first ferret from a pet store. At the
time (4-5 years ago) my internet usage was mainly Usenet. So I had the
resources of rec.pets, and I found a ferret FAQ. I did not find a list of
shelters until much later, after I had gotten my first ferret and wanted a
second one. The second and third ferrets were from a shelter, the fourth
was from a breeder, the fifth was a rescue being fostered by a nice lady
down in MA (HI JANET!:) and the sixth was almost another pet store
purchase. A very cute kit with a blaze and white toes. However, I waited
a few days and he was sold when I went back. So the sixth was again a
shelter ferret. The point is, knowing about shelters, I still nearly
bought a kit from a store. And I won't apologize for it. The person who
pointed out that they are much better off being bought by knowledgeable
people so they don't end up in shelters had a good point. If you see a kit
you can't resist, and you have the resources for another pet, and you feel
OK about supporting the store that it's being sold from, then go for it.
Pet store ferrets are no less deserving of good homes than those in
shelters, and as someone pointed out, some people don't live conveniently
near a shelter.
Karen
[log in to unmask]
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Do what you want, do what you wish. It's your life but remember this.
There's bound to be some consequences, sneaking under other fences.
Then what? Whatcha gonna do when the new wears off and the old shines
through, and it ain't really love and it ain't really lust, you ain't
anybody anybody's gonna trust. Then what? Where you gonna turn when
you can't turn back for the bridges you've burned, and fate can't wait
to kick you in the butt. Then what?
-- Clay Walker
======================================================================
If you love ferrets, check out:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crassi/index.html
======================================================================
[Posted in FML issue 2412]
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