>From: Charleen Schuster <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Petco and Marshall Farms!
>My soul aches andmy heart is sick. We got anoather call from Petco this
>past Sunday night about a new shipemnt of kits from their supplier,
>Marshall Farms. "Please come and look at them, they seem so young the
>manager said, the papers say they are 3-4 weeks old. I do not think they
>are in good shape."
>The question I ask is WHY DOES PETCO HAVE TO SELL FERRETS? WHY DOES
>MARSHALL FARM HAVE TO SEND THEM SO YOUNG, WHY CAN'T THEY WAIT TILL THEY
>ARE 12 WEEKS OLD!
I must respond to this. Charleen is part of an association that has had
education days at several Petco's around Washington. Charleen, on occasion
has taken her own ferrets with her to these events. These events have
encouraged/attracted people to Petco and also have shown people how
wonderful ferrets are. Is it any mystery that people would then enter the
store and purchase a ferret? In case you have not figured it out - supply,
demand and profit, are why these stores continue to sell Marshall Farms and
Triple F ferrets. Having these "education days" in front of a store that
you are upset with because they sell these ferrets, is counter-productive.
Why not do your deed in front of PetSmart where ferrets are not readily
available?
>Petsmart does not sell pets and they do very well. We as a ferret
>association are constantly getting called to come and mop up Petco's mess.
I have also been called by Petco to foster and care for their kits. I do
not do it anymore because it simply enables the store to transfer the
responsibility onto another party. It may sound heartless for me to refuse
to do this, but these stores need to learn.
>Marshall Farms does not seem to care how old or what kind of condition
>these animals are in when they are sent to the Pet Stores. They are sent
>to the pet stores by UPS air. They are put into a small wooden slat cage
>surrouned with chicken wire and stapled in. they are given a small
>plastic pouch of some jelly that they are suppose to chew through to get
>nourishment. I ask you this, how can a ferret of this age chew through
>hard plastic to get nourishment?
Last time I encountered this type of shipment, it was Triple F doing it. I
called Jack and Diane at Triple F to find out what the nectar was in the
plastic. They could not even tell me. Are you certain these are Marshall
Farms babies, not Triple F? Regardless, let's not just pick on one mill,
let's talk about all of them from Marshall to Triple F to Path Valley - all
are guilty of such mistreatment.
Why do stores get ferrets from these sources? Because these sources can
keep up with demand and they do not charge as much as a local breeder
would. Also, most reputable breeders want to interview potential adopters,
educating them along the way. I tried to find local breeders who were
willing to sell to pet stores or at least hook up some type of referral
program for kits, but there were no takers. Why is this? Responsible
breeders want to know that their ferrets go to responsible homes who will
take good care of them and get them fixed at the appropriate age. I have
done battle on several occasions with the corporate office of Petco. They
have not changed one bit. I think the key is to quit supporting them and
taking the responsibility off of the store. In fact, I recall a litter of
kits that Washington Ferret Association's Director took off of their hands,
sold for them and then gave the store the money from the sale (at a reduced
amount so that the Association could keep some of the money). I also
recall Petco donating several items (cages, supplies) to the Washington
Ferret Association for an auction that they had in 1999 that raised close
to $800 dollars.
<What would happen if Petco does not call us. Some of the managers have
told corporate that they do not want to sell ferrets and subsequently are
not generally sent any. We have saved so many little ones. Don't
misunderstand me, I am happy that they call us, but if they did not sell
ferrets in the first place we would not have to be called.<
This is true. The Crossroads store in Bellevue does feel this way. The
manager there does not want ferrets in his store and we spoke at length
about it. His District Manager has also complained to corporate, but to no
avail. Now if employees can complain and nothing is done, what makes you
think that the general public can change anything? I tried to incite people
to do this a long time ago (read the archives). Nothing changed. What?
You want solutions? Here is what I suggest people focus on. TRY TO GET
LEGISLATION CHANGED IN YOUR STATE. This may mean gathering signatures,
going door to door, getting an initiative on the state ballot, etc...so that
ferrets, cats and dogs are all governed by different "rules". These are
changes that would affect all ferrets, both present and future. I am not
knocking the efforts of those who do rescue, just that it is NOT the only
solution and sometimes enables further problems to develop. Want to make a
difference? THINK LARGE SCALE. Go picket Petco stores. Do something to
make a difference LONG TERM!
>We need your help. Enclosed in this email is the address of Petco and
their website. Please blitz them repeatedly with letters asking them to
STOP SELLING FERRETS. We are so tired of rescuing small sick litter
ferrets who cannot eat crunches yet and need to be nursed back to health.
We take care of htem just to give them up to Petco and watch them being
sold. This is just too heartbreaking. Please help! Keep writing.
Again, this never worked before. Complaining to Petco has never done any
good. You need to find alternative routes to affect their stores. I am
amazed that WFA would complain about a store that has done nothing but
supported their organization. Perhaps this email should be sent to the
corporate office for evaluation? I am curious to see what they would think
of an organization whom they have supported, turn on them. Biting the hand
that feeds you, comes to mind.
Written by the former Public Relations Director for the Washington Ferret
Association.
[Posted in FML issue 3088]
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