SO glad I found a place to vent about this!!
My fiancee, my youngest son and I headed out to our local Petco Saturday morning to pick up feeder chicks from an employee friend. (Let me note that this was a sanctioned event and had nothing to do with Petco itself.) He was running late for his shift and we were standing just inside the doors planning to meet him outside and grab the box of chicks. Right next to us was a group of women from an animal rescue with a bunch of cats and ferrets. Our friend came barreling through the doors, shoved the box of chicks at me and took off for the time clock before we could get outside to meet him. The store was pretty crowded, so before we could pick up the baby and get out, 2 women from the rescue and a whole bunch of kids surrounded us and started looking at the squawking chicks.
These dumb women started picking up the chicks and holding them - WITHOUT PERMISSION - and of course all these kids started sticking their hands in the box as well. These women had just been handling THEIR animals, which are fostered cats from various people's homes and petting the other dogs people brought into the store. I was completely disgusted. Honestly, I wouldn't have shaken her hand, let alone let her touch one of my animals.
Our friend gives us these chicks that were hatched by 4H kids in classrooms and have been handled by exactly 2 people because we need clean feeders for a rescued boa with NO top teeth due to massive stomatitis infections. We don't even handle the chicks except to clean their cage and put them in with the boa. She can't handle any type of contamination with her severely weakened immune system. She's still on massive doses of antibiotics because the mouthrot actually ate away her jawbone and all the way up through the roof of her mouth and out. When we got her, she hadn't been fed in WELL over a YEAR and was literally on the brink of death. She can't eat normally and pukes when we force or tube feed her. We started her on chicks that are injected with supplements at our vet's recommendation and they are the only thing she can manage to eat on her own. She's my lover girl
and nothing is too good for her.
To make matters worse, the one woman asked me if the chicks were feeders. I don't lie. I said yes. She FREAKED out and made the biggest scene imaginable. She actually told us to leave becuase there "are kids around". I held my tongue. Oh, I wanted to rip her. She continued mutering and complaining about us, calling us "cruel" and "evil".
Our friend called us later that evening to see what all the fuss had been about. Apparantly, this woman spent the rest of her day complaining about us. She told our friend he "shouldn't associate with people like them".
I FLIPPED.
I wrote a letter to the director of the rescue complaining about this woman. I told her that if that attitude about feeder animals was the official position of the rescue, that I demanded:
1. that ALL the animals in their care be switched to a vegan diet.
OR if the volunterr/employee was just shooting off her mouth and being rude:
2. They send me a written apology.
3. POST a LARGE written apology directed to me and all the people she defamed us to at the Petco next weekend when they are there
4. Get rid of that volunteer/employee
5. Teach their volunteers/employees about proper hygeine and sanitation with regards to animal handling
6. Teach their volunteers/employees to ask permission before touching another person's animals
7. Educate their employees on basic reptile feeding and care and remind them that ALL meat starts out alive
8. Require their volunteers/employees to CURB their personal opinions while representing the organization.
I was sorely tempted to demand financial reparations for the chicks, since I refused to feed them to Marilyn after they were contaminated by this woman. I didn't, though. I DO get them for free and I gave them to a friend with a big flock of mixed chickens.
I am sick to death of uneducated people.
Cat Rescue Whackos Wrecked my Feeders!!!
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