Well, I've heard that rules are made to be broken and I'm about to break one
of my longest standing ones, not to respond to negative posts on the FML.
 
In the past two days I've seen two posts telling people not to support pet
stores who are offering ferret events, since they are "exploiting ferrets"
and don't contribute to shelters (if I got the gist of the last one right).
 
Really folks, if you are having trouble with your local pet stores, that's
a shame.  We've been working with area pet stores and pet supply stores for
years now to try to get them to educate buyers on proper ferret care, and to
provide adequate care for the ferrets in their stores.  In several cases now
we have been very successful in working with these stores.
 
We're not about to get pet stores to stop selling pets.  We can, however,
educate them, persuade them to provide better care while the ferrets are in
their charge, and we can provide them with good information so that they can
educate the buyer.  The other option?  Let the pet stores keep the kits on
cedar chips and tell people that ferrets are great cage animals that can be
fed any old thing.
 
There are many good pet stores out there; stores and personnel who care
about their animals.  When we find them, we support them.  These are the
stores who we want to keep in business.  Would you rather have stores like
those who have their ferrets in wood chips so deep that their food bowls
are more full of chips than food, or would you rather have stores who hand
out good literature, tell people what it takes to care for a ferret, and
seek out information and pass it on to their customers?
 
No, I'm not promoting one chain over another, but I will support those
individual stores who promote ferrets responsibly.
 
By the way, Petco has donated to certain ferret shelters.  Maybe it's all
in how you treat them.
 
Dick B.  -  my last post on the subject
[Posted in FML issue 2369]