Hi All Ferret Lovers, I would like to inform you that we need your help and tell you why I am so upset tonight and ask for you help!! There is going to be a Ferret Show here in Seattle on March 28, l998 at the Seattle Center. For the past two weeks, I have been taking Flyers to Petco and PetSmart and the Ark here on the Eastside of Seattle. Today, I was over at a friends house that also has Ferret and is also a Breeder and is the Vice President of LOS (Legion of Superferrets).We were talking and discussing what all we had been doing to prepare for the show coming up. A lady that Sharon knows happened to stop in and we were talking about where I had put flyers at. This person said she had not seen any flyers at Petco. Which I found very strange, because I had left 70 flyers two weeks ago and had also posted a flyer on a board that shows cats for adoption. So We ran off around 100 more flyers and I decided to go give them more flyers, maybe they really did give all of them out! Anyway, off to Petco and Petsmart I went. I got to Petco and took the flyers to the cashier desk ask a salemen about it and he acted like he'd never seem them, which I am sure he probably never did! Anyway, I went over to check their Marshall Farm Ferrets out as I always do when I go into Petco. The handsome black mit that is probably at least a year old was still there. All his buddies had found homes, there had been two other ferrets with him when I was in there two weeks ago. They had just gotten three more tiny (looked like they were 5 weeks old!) in the cage with him. I ask the salesperson if I could hold them. After all they do need some love off and on, because they sure don't get it from the employees they are to busy stocking food, ect!! So the saleperson went over and unlocked the cage. I was playing with them and the manager just happened to come to the cashier desk and she happened to look over and saw me there. Well she knows that I had complained a few times about how dirty they keep the ferret, the water is always dirty, and they of course have them in terrible cedar bedding! Which I have told them about and also the litter boxes are always terrible! She told the Assistant Manager to go shut the ferret cage! He was very rude to me! So when I went past the cashier desk I noticed that they had taken the Ferret flyers and but them in the trash can! In the past I have taken tons of information from the internet on ferrets to Petco to help their employees learn more about ferret, now I have a feeling they probably threw all this information away too. Because none of the employees know anything about ferrets when you ask them questions about them! It sure is sad that pet stores sell animals and don't really care enough about the animals that they teach the customers about them before they sell the animal to the customer. Then what happens the customers buys this animal and discovers its not what they thought it was going to be like and then the animals ends up in a shelter or left on some road. Honest, I just left the store, and of course to myself have now decided that it will be the last time I ever go in that store! Then I went on to Petsmart to check on that store, where I am sure I have spent over $1,000 this year on pet supplies, dog,cat, and ferrets. The first thing I did was check to see if my flyer was still posted, not there. I went to the manager office which is right behind the cashier desk and she was in there. I said I had brought her some more flyers for the ferret show, and she informed me that she didn't know who said they would give them out to customers or put them where customers could look at them, but it was againest their policy to do this. I was informed that Shows sell products and they sell products so that is why they will not post them! So then I went to a ferret meeting that is just beginning to get started here on the Eastside of Seattle and I found out from Darcy an employee of The Ark which is also a private Petstore, They have three stores here one In Issaquah and one in Redmond and one in Woodinville. Darcy had brought all of them back to me and informed me that the owner would not let them be posted for the same reason that they sell ferret supplies, and we sale ferret products at the show. If anyone is interested in knowing more about the Ferret Show please email me. [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 2252]