My Wish for Pet Stores

The Test

I've always thought that all pet stores should be required to administer a simple test to perspective buyers about the animals they're about to purchase and take home.

It shouldn't be a hard test, just the basics. In an ideal world if they failed the test, they couldn't have the animal -but what pet store would agree to that! More realistically, I think that incorrect answers should be explained to the test taker and I think that person should be allowed to retake the test as many times as they need, in order to pass it. There should be more than one test (maybe three) so they can be mixed up a bit. It could even be the same questions but in a different order. People should not be allowed to retake the test that same day and should have to wait a few days in between. A deposit can be placed on the pet they want in the meantime. If the person eventually memorizes all the answers from taking the test so many times -that's fine! They'll still have learned what they needed to know.

I think taking a test like this would be a wake up call that any animal lover would be grateful for and they'd end up learning some of the essential things they need to know about the animal they're about to bring into their lives. I don't think information pamphlets work as well -but while we're on that subject...

The Book

I would also love it if the cost of a book about the pet they're about to purchase was built into the cost of the pet. Then buyers could be told that with the purchase of their pet they get one "free" book on that pet. Everybody getting a ferret (or any pet) should start by reading at least two books about the animal they're buying, but I'd be happy knowing that most people had read even one! It's amazing how many people have pets and have never even read one book about them. They just rely on "common sense." Sometimes that's enough. Other times it's not.

My brother had a turtle for about 5 years before it became ill. I found a knowledgeable vet and found out there were lots of things we didn't know about turtles. I was 16, my brother was 7, my parents had bought the turtle at a store, bought it a tank, some rocks and turtle food, and that was all they'd figured it needed. Did you know that if the water gets too cold, some turtles will stop eating? Did you know that some turtles will only eat if they are totally submerged in water and there's at least an inch of water over their head? These were not difficult things to correct! But nobody in my family knew! They should have. We all should have.

The mistakes that well meaning pet owners, using their "common sense," make with ferrets can be even more serious, and many are just as easy to fix -if they know! Certain breeds of dogs and cats have special requirements too, but millions of people never pick up a book about them. A dog or cat book might not tell an owner much more than they already knew, but it wouldn't hurt for them to read up a bit as well.

That's my wish list.

1. A test requirement before buying any animal.
2. A "free" book on that animal with every animal sold.

I want every pet store to do this. I think it makes sense. It would save so many ferrets and other animals from needless pain and unnecessary neglect, and it doesn't seem like it would be a difficult thing to do. It should be particularly easy to incorporate the price of a book into the price of the pet. I'd be thrilled to see even one pet store start down this path.