We went back to the mall and, sure enough, the ferret was still there.
There was an improvement, in that the two young people working in the
store that day had seen to the ferrets having food and a 'toy'..  in the
form of a corner litter pan that they were having a ball with.  Pathetic?
Perhaps, the fact that they were reduced to playing with a litter pan
instead of toys made me want to, once again, weep.
 
Another horror caught my eye..  kittens.  Perhaps five of them, and all
in one of those enclosures that I mentioned being used for the ferrets!
No room to bounce, no room to romp, no room to play.
 
I can say that at least the two people seemed interested in the ferrets,
but that may have been fained in order to make them look a little better.
For the moment, the big boy is home with us and doing well.  He ate a
good portion of food (8 in 1 plus, ultimate), took a little FerretVite,
and is playing with the new toys we bought him.
 
He's in our smaller cage, because he'd never been in something even that
large and we want him to get used to ramps.  We also wanted a quarantine
period to guard the health of the two ferrets we already have.
 
Soon, though, he will be living in a five foot tall, six level cage, with
two buddies to keep him company.  He's already enjoying his play time- at
least three hours+ each day- and even attempted a little war dance for me
last night.
 
He learned, in only an hour that biting is for toys and kisses are to be
shared..  and, boy, was he happy to share those!
 
The pet shop baby is now named Kokie.  Yes, I know that it's not really
smart to go about 'rescuing' pet store cases, but Kokie spoke to my
heart.  In fact, the little guy nabbed it and took it off to his stash!
 
We'll still be persuing action against the store.  In fact, I would just
be happy if they gave their animals better living conditions.  One good
pet store is worth a hundred horrible pet stores that have been closed
down.
 
He'll be seeing our vet- a WONDERFUL vet- as soon as we can get him fit
into their list, and I'm hoping he's not too small for his shots.  If he
is, we'll have to increase the calorie/fat in his food for a while until
we can get him to a good weight, because it is distemper season in CT
now, and we want to take no risks.
 
Melissa and the carpet sharks..  two of whom are wondering what in the
/heck/ that dark, furry thing is!
[Posted in FML issue 3818]