Lorraine's post was very timely as my sister Vanessa, Executive
Director of the Ferret Assn of CT's shelter just published the
following article in FACT's most recent membership newsletter. We've
seen the same trend in the FACT shelter with increased numbers of
surrenders prompting FACT's board to keep asking, how can we keep
seeing a problem with over-population when we are dealing with a pet
that is being sold neutered? HELLO? Is it raining ferrets somewhere?

It is, and we have the stats to show where. With Bill's indulgence,
I'll break her article into two posts as I am redoing the FACT
website and am not sure where it will ultimately reside when redone.
[Both parts combined into this one post here. BIG]

Pet Store Ferret Sales & Overpopulation

People often ask me, "Where do the ferrets come from?" Usually, they
mean who would give up a ferret. But there's a related question:
"Where were they SOLD?"

For the last year or so, FACT has been carefully tracking the origin
of ferrets we receive into the shelter.

We've arrived at some results. During the period May 1, 2012 --
November 15, 2013 we took in 128 ferrets. Many - around half - had
no DETERMINED point of origin. Either they were found outside, or
the owners didn't remember, etc. There was only one "breeder" ferret,
based on the fact that she was undescented. Therefore the remaining
127 originated at pet stores. Of those, 71 were "unknown" stores -
i.e. they certainly came from stores, but we don't know which.

Here a breakdown of the 57 "known" store sources, as identified by
the owners:
- Petland Discounts -2
- All Pet's Club -- 2
- Guppies to Puppies -- 2
- Exotic Fin & Feather -- 2
- Petco - 48 --(including 4 brought directly to us from Petco)

Therefore, these numbers translate to:
- As a % of total intakes in 18 months, 37% are identifiable as being
sold from Petco (48/128 = 37%).
- As a % of identified pet store intakes,84% are identifiable as being
sold from Petco (48/57 = 84%)

While it could be argued these small numbers are not statistically
relevant, we can extrapolate that an additional 60 animals probably
also originated at Petco (71 unknowns x 84% = 60). That would mean
that 84% of the animals we accepted during this period, or 108 of 128
animals, originally came from Petco stores.

When FACT began, we put every pet store in the state on our mail list.
At that time, there were about 175, mostly independent stores. How many
of you still have a little indy pet store in your town? I'd guess there
are barely 50-75 anymore, and many don't sell animals, only supplies.
(The recent drive to ban puppy sales in CT has less than 20 stores
fighting the legislation because they still sell puppies.) Independent
stores have been driven out of business by the post-2008 economy, the
rise of online shopping, and Petsmart and Petco. Petsmart doesn't sell
ferrets. But Petco does, growing from a few locations 20 years ago to
21 stores in Connecticut alone.

Pet Store Ferret Sales & Overpopulation (Part 2) by L. Vanessa Gruden

A store manager in a populated area told us they sold "a couple"
a week. So, conservatively, that's 2,300 ferrets entering the CT
population every year from Petco. Petco employees, up & down the
staff chain, have told us they make little from the actual sale of
the animal. No, what stores profit from is the sale of the cage and
accessories along with the pet -- owner after owner says they paid
$400+ for all their ferret's add-ons. In the pet industry, cat & dog
food has very small margins - they must keep those prices down due to
the intense competition. But cages and various "new owner" supplies?
That's a gold mine.

In my 22 years of sheltering ferrets, the overpopulation problem has
gotten FAR worse in recent years. FACT certainly doesn't see every
abandoned ferret in the state of Connecticut.Hundreds -- I estimate up
to 500 per year -- are being "rehomed" on Craigslist. At least 100 find
homes via other humane groups or animal control facilities that accept
and adopt ferrets. But those are the lucky ones. We take in between
20-40 animals found outside. We know that's a small percent -- hundreds
more are never found and die alone, starving, and terrified. How many
more are killed by inhumane treatment or neglect by owners? Those are
truly the "forgotten" ferrets -- those no one sees. Their little bodies
simply get tossed out with the wilted lettuce and last week's pet store
sale flyer.

When I see 5 ferrets at the pet store, I see 1 animal that will go
into a really good home. I see 1 that will find an OK home; it might
get passed around a bit. I see 1 that will end up in a shelter. And I
see 2 that will be dead, some within months.

I'm not totally against pet store sales. A ban would result in an
uptick in backyard breeders, and intact ferrets are at even greater
risk of abandonment due to their odor and rutting behavior. But the
way in which Petco, in particular, pushess ales---bins of cute babies
and the regular discount promotions---is incredibly irresponsible
for a retailer touting their ethics. My ideal would be to have ferrets
brought in on order only: a customer seeking a kit requests and the
store orders one via the distributor. It would take about a week; maybe
two. That's a reasonable accommodation that reduces impulse sales and
avoids those poor animals that linger in cases for months as they age
and become "seconds."

Maybe it seems like I'm beating up on a single retailer. Other parts
of the US have different issues with ferret overpopulation. Some have
breeders. Some are dealing with other chains -- Petland Discounts is
spread throughout the Midwest, famously sued by the Humane Society of
the US for buying from puppy farms. But in New England, our problems
with unwanted ferrets point straight to Petco. I just don't think the
store employees or management have ANY clue of the problems they are
causing. I personally feel - and many wise and experienced owners also
believe - that it's time to let them know, before all of the good
people running rescues give up in frustration.

[Posted in FML 7988]