Hello everyone.  I want to respond to the post where a Petco manager
was spoken to and said that ferrets could be returned to Petco.  As some
of you may know, I am an animal specialist for Petco for many years and
through the years this one thing has become apparent to me, All Petco
stores do not follow the same procedures.  I was told that stores on
different coasts may do things differently in regards to merchandising,
product lines etc. but animals and their care should be uniform in the
company and I'm not so sure that they are.
 
In my store when we have someone trying to return a ferret we usually
will take it back if they have the paperwork showing it came from our
store, If the ferret is from another store we ask they return it to that
location.  We sometimes will even take in ferrets that have not been
purchased through us but need some place to be kept and need a permanent
home, which we look for.  The actual return policy on animals is only a
15 day guarantee though, There have been times when we have to many
animals and we are not allowed to take another one in.  I'm not saying
that it's right, but that is the way it sometimes works.
 
I know that all stores do not take back their animals so easily.  That
issue should definitely be addressed with corporate!!  Even my store
wasn't as good as we now are, but luckily we now have a manager that has
a definite care and concern for all the animals.  Things are not perfect,
but we are improving!
 
The sad fact is that we would not have so many returned animals if:
1. The employees at our stores would be more knowledgeable and let
people know all that's involved with the care of ferrets.  The majority
of people have little or NO knowledge of ferrets when they buy them.
 
2.  Any people interested in ferrets or any other animals should have
a working understanding of the animal they are buying.  But I know
firsthand that even when I tell people about ferret care and its obvious
that its probably not the best choice-some will not listen at all and get
the ferret for the son or daughter or because they look cool.  Its
frustrating...
 
I'm so sorry that this post is long, I just wanted to get out to everyone
my take on this situation.  Maybe if Concerned Petco employees and
customers came together or started on Corporate, the future of Petco
fuzzys everywhere would become brighter!
 
Thanks for your time,
Kathy & The Troublemakin' fuzzys
[Posted in FML issue 4229]