Hi all, I just wanted to mention something about this Petsmart thing that people may not be thinking about. Okay, we all already know that all the ferret shelters are full. I mean totally full. Maybe not exactly every single shelter, but the vast majority of them are. Not only are they full, they have bills beyond bills beyond bills. And alot of them are waiting to raise funds to get other ferrets in for surgery. And this is only with ONE big chain store selling ferrets. Now lets put Petsmart and ALL their stores into this. I can just see Petsmart coming out with lower priced kits (to challenge Petco), which makes it easier to make that "impulse buy". And we all know what that usually leads to. Its not always the case, that the impulse buyers turn in their ferrets a few months down the road, I know, but its quite common. Now lets add in the people who give up their ferrets cuz of: moving, too expensive - ferret has a medical condition and they cant pay for it, a new baby, dont have time, kid went to college, dont get along with the cat/dog, ferret nips... etc... So there is defintately going to be a raise in the number of shelter turn ins! I'd love to know how much there was a need for ferret shelters BEFORE Petco was selling kits??!! Can anyone tell me that? Have any of these shelters been around prior to Petco selling kits?? Probably a extremely small number - why? Cuz Petco wasnt mass selling kits. Ok, so the shelter turn in rates are going to go up. Its a given that no one can dispute. So we've already got shelters full to the brim, medical bills up to the Heavens, and not only that... its the TIME that it takes to care for all of these ferrets. The time for cleaning cages, bedding, feeding, special feeding, play/interaction time, fundraising, meetings, vet appts, trimming nails, cleaning ears, working with biters/fearsome ferrets, answering phone calls from anywhere to potential adopters to ferret owners with medical questions who are so lost and dont know what to do, to trying to pursuade another person not to give up their ferret and to make time for them, application screening, meeting with potential adopters... I'm sure there is a ton more missing here... But what I'm saying here is that not only is the intake of ferrets going up and the bills going up, but also, its the additional time and stress that is going to be put on our poor ferret shelters. I mean some of them are already over-filled, and they are begged to take in 'just this one more' so he doesnt get put down. Please, I beg you, that if you see no reason for us not to put on pressure and try to persuade Petsmart to NOT sell ferrets, please, I beg you, to go spend a few days at a ferret shelter. Not just one day, but a few, so you can really get a feel for it. See what its like. Feel the joy of adopting out a ferret to a wonderful home. Feel the anger and saddness frustration of losing yet another baby to insulinoma or whatever because the prior owners didnt know how to properly care for the ferret. If you've ever lost a ferret... feel that pain and loss 10 times or more throughout any given year. Feel the frustration of having your shelter full to capacity, and have to say no to any other turn ins and spend days trying to get another shelter (they are all full too) to take this ferret who is at a city pound who is going to put him down becuz they dont take ferrets in and someone left him there. Watch as they try to help owners who have sick ferrets and no one else they know understands ferret medicine so they call the shelter for advice. Watch as they plead with good intentioned 'impulse buyers' that they can make it work if they try this and try that..etc.. Watch as they try to rehab a starved and neglected ferret. Watch as they work with a ferret who has been with their family for years only to be dumped at a ferret shelter at 6 years old and not understanding why and stressed and sad. Then, after you have spend some time at a ferret shelter and really gotten to see what its like, then give me one reason why we shouldn't put pressure on Petsmart to not sell ferrets and to try to persuade them to not add to the mass production of these sweet sweet innocent ferrets. Andrea [Posted in FML issue 4790]