There was a time when PetsMart (/Petstuff - remember them?) was a
warehouse pet supply that did not sell any animals.  It was a management
decision to sell animals to increase profits.  And it must have worked,
because they're still selling them.  Otherwise, selling live animals
would have been discontinued the way so many not-so- profitable product
lines are - whether their loyal customers want them or not.
 
Realistically, PetsMart corporate has not "gone out of their way" or
had a conscience about anything but their bottom-line, other than how
it would be affected by public opinion.  If that were the case, they
wouldn't have saturated the market selling supplies at rock-bottom prices
until they had decimated the neighborhood pet store market.  Once they
had eliminated their competition, they showed you, the consumer, how
grateful they were for your patronage, by jacking up their prices.  You
can bet there was extensive market research conducted to determine
profitability before they started promoting that they don't sell cats &
dogs.  It really has nothing to do with "voluntary" or "obligation" on
their part.  PetsMart's objectives are profit-motivated.
 
I'm fully aware that PetsMart has the right to sell them.  And I agree,
they do & no one is disputing that.  But I can see no good reason why
they should.  Unless, of course, you were a stockholder, then it would
make sense to want to see ferret sales if you thought they would generate
profit.
 
Making an effort to convince a huge corporate chain that it would not
be profitable or ethical to impulse retail a long-lived creature, who
requires the knowledge necessary to keep them healthy & safe, is not
giving them "crap." The difference between a corporate chain of stores &
individual privately owned stores is obvious.  The retail decisions a
privately owned store makes will only affect a single location.  PetsMart
has over 700 stores.  Any decision they make will compound the problem by
the hundreds.
 
My description about how ferrets are shipped is factual from personal
observation.  As long as retailers accept their shipments, the standards
will not change.  Don't be so naive to think that the buying power of
700 stores doesn't hold any weight.  But that's not the point of this
discussion.
 
I wish people would think, about how they have the power to make changes.
It's much easier to avert a policy than overturn one that's already
implemented.  I wish they would think about the impact that as few as
an additional 700 ferrets more a year would have on the ferret rescue
community; the hundreds of impulse purchases & casual discards; &
increased breeding & culling of worn out breeder ferrets.  You said it,
"Think, people, think."
 
The alarmists are those who jump up & down defending PetsMart's rights,
when this issue has nothing to do w/rights.  I don't remember reading
a single post proclaiming that PetsMart doesn't have the right to sell
ferrets.  I do remember valid reasons about why PetsMart should not sell
ferrets.
 
Just maybe PetsMart can be made to realize that enough of their big-
dollar clientele oppose this proposition.  But the ferret community isn't
big enough.  The dog & cat community has the numbers that we don't.  The
message needs to be widely broadcasted to the dog & cat rescue community,
animal controls & humane organizations, veterinarians, etc.  An on-line
petition w/a few thousand signatures isn't enough.  I hope that the dog &
cat community realizes that this will eventually become their problem too.
 
PetsMart bases its marketing on how much good they do for companion
pets.  So, would it be ethical for them to retail ferrets knowing how
both ferrets & the already overburdened independent shelters will be
negatively affected?  If PetsMart can be persuaded to not sell ferrets,
why shouldn't we try?
 
Juliana Quadrozzi
FERRET BUSINESS of GA
[Posted in FML issue 4791]