Hello everyone, I am fairly new to this list, but I've been bothered by all the people who are so against pet shops selling ferrets, and believe that no one in a pet shop is well informed about the animals we sell. I work in a pet shop, and am also the proud mother of three ferrets, I bought all of my ferrets at the shop where I now work about 3 years ago. Yes, my first was an impulse buy, and yes I wish when I got them the employees had known more and been able to give me more helpful advice. But I did what I feel every responsible pet owner should do, I went out, bought some books and became better informed in a hurry. The reasearch, I found, never stops either, when you love them and want the best for them you constantly search for new and better info. I started working in the pet shop about a year after I got my ferrets, things aren't always the best, but we do our best to make sure every animal is cleaned regularly( ferrets are cleaned daily,it's a must), kept well fed and watered. When customers want to buy a ferret, or any pet, I make it a point to tell them the pros and cons of their animal, I give each prospective ferret owner an idea of what to expect, and what to watch for. I do my best to make sure that each person who purchases an animal,has what the animal really needs, and recommend purchasing a book. Books are very important in my opinion, as there is no way I can possibly tell them everything they need to know, but better than half usually won't pay the $8-$10 dollars extra for a book. Since I began working there the ferrets do get better care, I believe, than they did before I got there, I get the people with the tough questions about ferrets, and if I don't know the answer I try to find out. other sales people ask me questions, so that they are better informed as well, and we want to inform the customer so that not only are they happy with their pet, their pet is happy too. I have totally refused to sell people pets, one guy kept his previous ferrets outside in his garage where wild animals got in and killed them( he had 2 previously) when he wanted another I wouldn't sell him one. He didn't care about the animal his son just wanted one as a pet. And I felt the poor animal deserved better than this. This isn't meant to disagree that many pet stores need to improve their knowledge, and their way of taking care of the animals in their care. I liked the idea of taking info to the unimformed stores, and trying to educate them, hopefully it will work in at least some stores. Some of the problems I find come from some( not all!!!) of the breeders, we get our animals from two breeders, one of them brings the ferrets in themselves, hungry and dehydrated, because he takes them all over the area and our shop is last. I have seen them come in and drink for 10 minutes straight, or latch on top someones finger because they are so hungry. I know they are fixed between 5-7 weeks, and their new incisions are often bloody and pus filled. When these poor things come in we make sure that they are cared for immediately and they aren't sold until they are better, or whoever buys them is at least informed of the treatment they are getting. These little ones aren't even alyays eating solid food yet, a piece of information it wouldn't hurt the breeder to tell us, but if we don't take them in and care for them, make sure they go to good homes, who is going to? The breeder? Sorry if this came out as a terribly grumbly letter, but I just wanted you to know that some pet stores and their employees really are doing their best, and really care about the animals they sell. [DW] [Posted in FML issue 2412]