First and foremost, this post is in no way meant to offend, so out of respect for one another's opinions, please do not spam me. I am currently a part-time employee of a PETCO in Richfield, MN. First, we DO NOT sell ferrets at our location. I agree with the rest of the carpet shark slaves that ferrets are companion animals and should be treated as such and not sold at pet stores. The reasoning behind that being that ferrets are illegal in Minneapolis (which is basically across the street). As far as part-time wages go, I work about 20-25 hours per week and I started at $8 per hour (not bad considering min. wage is $5.25). The reason I am working there is #1) ferrets, cats and dogs are expensive (must have 2nd job), #2) I really enjoy working with animals and I believe I am quite knowledgeable when it comes to most domesticated pets. No, I am not posting to say that PETCO is perfect by any means and Yes, I can see where you are coming from. I think myself that there are a few things about PETCO that could change. Example: we have a chinchilla right now in a cage that is FAR too small for him, however, that is not standard practice. This chinchilla was surrendered to us and we had no where else to put him. And, yep, there are WAY too many mice in the mouse cage, which leads to more bloody, territorial fights than you can shake a stick at. But there are some things that are contrary to popular belief. At my store (and I am only speaking of my store and not PETCO as a whole) we are all very well trained at the proper care of birds. The majority of our parrots, amazons, conures and other larger birds come to us still needing hand feeding. Every person working in our small animal department MUST know how to hand feed and must learn with assistance before they can do it on their own. I consider my co-workers to be quite educated in proper care for every reptile, fish or any other small animal we sell. I make it my personal duty to make sure almost every animal gets attention during my shift. Whether it means getting peed on by a hamster or getting my ear nibbled raw by a bird. I KNOW that an ignored/neglected animal has no respect for people and therefore wants nothing to do with you and yours. I want to emphasize that I am only speaking of my store. My opinions are reflections of what I know about the Richfield, MN store ONLY! Maybe I consider it working on the inside and maybe I just really like the store I work for. I am not sure which. Last, I have to comment on a post I read today: >To any shelter operator who is reading this post...if you can get >anything back from Petco...DO IT! Do not feel bad about it. I have >tried for the past three years to get Petco to donate to shelters. >Mostly, money not supplies because supplies don't pay vet bills! Excuse >me, Dr. X, can I pay you in ferretvite or Marshall Farms hammocks? I >don't think so. You should be grateful and happy with anything anyone gives you! If PETCO gives you Ferretvite and hammies, it seems to me like you have to spend less on Ferrevite and hammies. Correct me if I am wrong, but THERE IS YOUR VET $$! I can see that you are fed up with vet bills and stingy companies like PETCO, but is that any reason to complain that you are "only" getting supplies? Some shelters are hard up for supplies. Be AT THE VERY LEAST grateful you have what you've got. Nicole, Silly Girl and Daisy Dooks [Posted in FML issue 3853]