It's a Ferret Life

NN Petco worker outraged over theft of ferret by couple

The young couple was acting squirrelly enough that a Petco employee was reluctant to leave them holding a ferret while she helped another customer. Sure enough, when she came back, the couple was gone, and so was the ferret, she said.

Now police are looking for the pair, a man and woman in their early 20s, who are suspected of stealing the ferret from the Jefferson Avenue pet store on Saturday morning.

The detective investigating the theft has come to a dead end, and police are asking for the public's help.

"We can't put a whole lot into this because it's shoplifting and it's not going to be a felony," said Officer Harold Eley, a spokesman for the Newport News Police Department. "But we still have to solve it."

The Petco employee who dealt with the couple on Saturday said she's anxious to see the tiny animal returned.

Pam Fowler is outraged not just by the financial loss - ferrets retail at the store for $130, but were on sale Saturday for $99 - but by the animal's mistreatment.

Surveillance footage of the couple shows the woman leaving the store after stashing the ferret in her purse.

"A very small purse, at that," Fowler said.

The woman was about 5 feet, 4 inches tall and the man was about 6 feet tall, said Fowler. She had long blond hair in a ponytail and he had dark or black hair and a baseball cap, she said.

Fowler, who owns two ferrets herself, said she's kicking herself for letting them hold the ferret, and is heartbroken at the loss.

"If they had walked out with a $300 cage I wouldn't be as upset," she said. "It's a living thing."

The couple came into the store holding a baby ferret, and said they wanted to get a companion for the creature. They picked out a 6-week-old female ferret. It did not have a name.

Every week, the Newport News Petco sells two or three of the animals, which are members of the weasel family. There were 10 ferrets in stock Saturday because of the sale.

"We just want the baby back," said Fowler. "We want it to go to a good home."

Newport News police are asking anyone with information about the stolen ferret to call Crime Line toll-free at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887).