Wow.  I was behind on my FML browsings.  Wow.  Go Sabrina and Switch!
Bury those nasty things.
 
Okay, on Petco.  I've been there.  As an assistant Manager, no less.
And there's only so much that even they can do.  We were under constant
pressure to keep under hours.  We were told to send kids home to keep
under our budgetted hours.  We were told by our district manager that
if we couldn't get, and stay, under hours, then she'd find managers who
could.  Our RACC (Regional Animal Care Coordinator) was very picky about
which animals could go to the vet, and which ones couldn't.  We had a
ferret, who had been bought, and the owners, being somewhat ferret
knowledgable, kept her quarentined for just under our 14 day return
policy.  And she was too sneezy for them to trust adding to their crew.
So, we took her back.  She went to the vet, and then was on meds for
about two weeks.  I'll be honest.  It was really hit and miss whether
she got her meds on time or not.  Once she was through with the meds,
she went back out on to the floor.  I had a family who was interested in
her, that I had talked about the pros and cons of ferret ownership with.
Probably would be good fert paretns.  And since they had kids, the local
shelter wasn't real interested in adopting to them, as I recall (could
be wrong, its been a while.) Since she was now so much larger and 'less
cute' than the little tiny kits taht we'd since gotten in, I asked the
store manager if we'd be able to reduce her price.  The answer was a
resounding NO, since she had the added cost of a vet visit.  Needless
to say, I don't work there anymore.  It was more heartache than i could
bear.  But, I will tell you that it isn't, at least wasn't at any of the
petcos that we have here in our town, common practice to put animals in
the freezer to "finish them off".  Except maybe fish.  They didn't go
to the freezer until they were already dead.  In the 8 months that I
was there, we did not lose any ferrets.  Just about everything else, we
lost at least one.  I'd rather not see ferrets, or any, animals sold in
stores.  You have to remember that we are among a select group of people.
We tend to be better educated about the dangers of mass breeders, and
the problems that pet stores can have.  But, on the flip side, I have to
think where I'd have ever gotten my hedgehogs, if I hadn't gotten the
first at a pet store.  How would I have known they were avail?  And I'm
the first to admit, though it shames me somewhat, all 5 of the ferts that
are currently under my care (three are mine, 2 are a friends that are
staying with us on a longterm basis) All of them were actually bought
from a pet store.  2 petco boys, and 3 from Uncle Bills.  I don't want to
think about uncle bills.  Sleve had it bad.  So did BB and Sox.  When I
first bought the 3 of them, I didn't really know better.  When I started
working at petco, we got our first shipment of fuzzies in.  The fiance
didn't want to take in someone else's problems.  I've been working on
that.  We're over our limit at 5.  I won't be getting any more for some
time.  The next one will come from a shelter.  The fiance has now seen
the 'joys' of ferret kits, and the trouble that they can cause.  He'll
learn, slowly, as will I, the trouble that older kids can cause.  But
you know what, its trouble that I look forward to.  Its part of having
fuzzies.  And I wouldn't trade that for the world.
 
Okay.  Enough philosophical bulls**t.  The kids are all loving life.  The
friend who was keeping them had them all on Marshalls food.  ICK.  So,
the boys are back on a mix of totally ferret, zupreem, and the new
shepherd and green.  With the Marshalls still in there, to keep tummies
content.  They're all eating with relish, and loving every bit of it.
The babies have their own room.  complete with closet.  And everyone is
SO kissy.  Even Loki.  he's always loved his mommy, but he's the ninja
ferret.  In, nip, gone.  He's also the master relocator.  He will move
any object, just name your price.  Its amazing to see how the ferrets
have changed colors in just 6 months.  Sleve has added a nice touch of
silver to his coat.  Snoova, who was a light grey, has shifted to almost
black.  Loki is still creamy.  Goofy.  Especially since we've know got BB
and Sox in the mix.  BB started out as a dark sable.  She's still a dark
sable.  Sox, started life as a silver mitt.  Sox is silvermitt no more!
He's now more of a DEW, with a few strands of grey guard hairs!  Anyway,
that's enough rambling about the kids for today.  It's so nice to hear
Loki dooking up a storm, and the massive clamor as hordes of fuzzy feet
go dancing across the wood floors!
 
Dooks and Dances,
Denise
 
=====
Denise Hebert
Alpha Phi Omega, Alumni
ICQ# 1155674
[Posted in FML issue 3862]