I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in about Rebecca's post about rescuing
the ferret from the pet store.  This also goes along the lines of the
ongoing thread about Hope.
 
I also dont believe that refusing to buy sick kits in pet stores is going
to stop stores (esp major chains) from selling ferrets.
 
Like Rebecca, Heather and I were "drawn" somehow to Animal House pet
store in St Pete (baaaaaad pet store!!!!) on a Saturday afternoon in mid
January.  There we found Arthur, skin and bones, barely responsive, in a
glass tank with about 19 other ferrets who were triple his size.  How
could I not take him away from that hell?
 
Fortunately, we have had no vet bills for Arthur arising out of his
ordeal.  He was only 10 ounces or so when we brought him home, and today
he is our biggest (perhaps too big) ferret, weighing around 5 pounds.  He
is only 6-7 months old and we think is starting to grow into his girth.
He may always be overweight, perhaps b/c he was literally starving to
death at the pet store b/c they were not moistening the food and he had
no teeth to eat with.
 
Like Hope's mom, we have before and after pictures and they are amazing to
look at.  I thank God everyday for Arthur and for being "drawn" to the pet
store that day.  Arthur is deaf and we are going about getting our money
refunded from MF.  But the money doesnt matter; I would have paid twice
what I paid (Animal House is abhorrently expensive at $160 a ferret) to
free him from his prison.
 
I generally do not go to pet stores that sell ferrets anymore; I dont have
enough money or room to buy all the ones that are currently in the kind of
shape that Arthur was in.
 
I dont mind saying that 4 out of our 7 came from pet stores.  In the
beginning we didnt know much about ferret shelters, or even that they
existed.  1 comes from an ad in the paper and the other 2 have come from
a ferret shelter.  I dont think many of us can say that all of theirs
come from a shelter.  Besides, as someone on this list once pointed out,
the ones you see in pet stores today may end up in shelters days, weeks,
months or years from now.  Ultimately, they all come from the same
place...is it really necessary to boycott buying from pet stores when all
it hurts are the ferrets?  Lets not cut off our noses to spite our faces
here.
 
Becky and Heather
The Magnificent Seven: Abby, Andre, Annie, Arthur, Avery, Bob and Peanut
[Posted in FML issue 3823]