I have been reading the back and forth commentary on Petco selling
ferrets. Here in New Jersey, we have been invited by three different
Petcos to participate in their in-store adoption days, even though they
sell ferrets. Most of the store managers that I have spoken to work at
Petco because they are animal people, and they know that adoptions are
important. They sell ferrets because their customers want them, but
they would love to have shelters coming in to promote adoptions.

Rather than trying to get some sort battle going to get them to stop
selling ferrets, please consider spending some time in the stores doing
education and promoting adoptions. There are an awful lot of people
that don't know that ferret shelters exist, and would be happy to adopt
rather than buy, if they knew how and where. We don't do any adoptions
directly in the stores, but we do take names, and urge potential
adopters to get a copy of Ferrets for Dummies and do their homework
first.

I think we could easily have a meet and greet every weekend, if not
both days on the weekends, if we had the time. Meet and greets can be
very fun days, or can be very, very boring - it all depends on who
happens to come into the store that day. In addition to educating the
public, a meet and greet is a also a great time to get to know the
store staff and managers. Educating them can only help make ferret
lives better, both in the store, and through what they tell their
customers.

Time is a very precious commodity in an animal shelter, maybe even more
precious than money. If you have some extra time, please talk to your
local shelter (of course, cash is always welcome, as well..)

Larry Anderson
Scales and Tails Rescue

[Posted in FML 6618]