We all have choices. When making them, we need to act responsibly, and think about the consequences of our actions. I will not tell anyone they should not buy from The Ferret Store. Likewise, I will not hold it against anyone who does. But, we should consider our choices. People have pointed out that TFS offers a 20% discount to shelters. The Ferret Depot offers the same 20% discount. And, while PetCo and PETsMart may not offer discounts to shelters, they do both have a charity division that offer help to animal welfare groups that are bona fide non-profit organizations. Also, some PetCo stores do offer a shelter discount. This may be on a store by store basis, but I know that one time when I was stocking up on litter, I was asked if I was a cat rescue by a PetCo employee, and was told that if I was a rescue, I could get a 20% discount. Many people have commented how the dollar rules how choices are made. I realize that people who receive benefits from The Ferret Store will most likely continue to shop there and support them. That is their right to make that choice. I am not saying this in a negative way, either. It takes a lot of money to care for the ferrets in a shelter, and shelter moms need all the financial breaks they can get. It also takes money to put on an event like a ferret show or a Symposium. There are many up front expenses that have to be paid even before the first registration dollars come in. Sponsors are necessary to have that money. And groups and individuals need to be supportive of their sponsors. And, in the past, TFS has sponsored many events. Unfortunately, the number of events they are sponsoring is dwindling, and they are also putting restrictions on some events before they will provide a sponsorship. Restrictions like allowing them to be the only sponsor (although they are not increasing the amount of their donation) and not allowing advertising from any other ferret supply retailer. This makes it difficult for the organizers of the event. If TFS is not offering enough money to cover costs, but refusing to be a sponsor if there are other sponsors, then the organization either has to work with less mo ney, or look elsewhere for sponsors. But, these are choices that both TFS and the event organizers have the right to make. In his reply to me, Scott Sanfilippo said that TFS was not a profitable business. It seemed odd to me that someone would keep a business going for 10 years that was not profitable. So, I checked the company website - not TFS site, but the NEEPS site. http://www.neeps-inc.com/about.htm According to the website, NEEPS is a hugely successful company, doing over 5 million dollars worth of business in 2003, and expanding rapidly . Moreover, they claim the story of their success is taught in business seminars and classrooms. Now, a business has overhead, and so I am sure that Joe and Steve are not able to drive Bentleys and Rolls Royces, at least not yet. However, they are obviously either grossly exaggerating their success on the company site, or else they are turning a profit. And, when you have revenues of over 5 million a year, a few $500.00 and $1,000.00 sponsorships are just a drop in the bucket, especially when they are also a tax write off. Again, I am not knocking TFS for being successful. All I am trying to do is present FML readers with some facts, to help them in making their choices. I am sure the revenues for both PetCo and PETsMART are far higher then 5 million. But then, PetCo, PETsMART and the Ferret Depot all provide sponsorship money for events, also. I have made a personal decision to shop places other then TFS at this time. I have been a customer there for quite a while, and even after they raised their prices, I still continued to buy from them out of loyalty. I placed a rather large order with them in April, and priced it out with Ferret Depot as well. Had I bought from Ferret Depot, I could have saved over $20.00, even after considering the cost of shipping. So, in all honesty, my decision to buy from other suppliers is based in part on the almighty dollar. I see no reason to continue spending more to shop with TFS, when I feel they are letting down the ferret community by continuing to sell products that are unhealthy to ferrets. I am glad they have indicated they will talk to the manufacturers about improving the quality of products, but I do not feel that is going far enough. It all comes down to choices. They can make the choice to sell inferior products, and I can make the choice to shop elsewhere. -- Danee International Ferret Congress Health Issues Coordinator http://ferretcongress.org ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know! For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com [Posted in FML issue 4888]