Well, what employees at (PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets call "zealots"....I call "passionate". That's what we all are here...passionate about our gliders...passionate about their care and welfare, passionate about their enrichment...so (PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets has NOTHING on us!!

Summer Whitney seems to be their new customer service person (aka: spin doctor).It lists her name on the BBB site.
She should know perfectly well that USDA regulations in regards to breeding certain animals is "lacking" at best.
I think regulations are something like, the animal must have food and water and must be able to stand up and turn around in its cage. The end. I bet (PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets follows those laws right down to the bare minimum.
I don't think anywhere does it say that you can't pump animals out as fast as you can for maximum profit.
I may be a "wacko" but at least I can sleep at night.

lol, everytime someone from (PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets starts to spew their garbage and start with their smoke and mirrors tactics all I can think is that they are about to say "PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!"

..oh and what she means by "unique serial number" identifying them and the animals that they bought she really means a plain ole' "receipt".
Got to give them credit for figuring out new and unique ways to rename stuff so it sounds more imperessive, lawful, important..etc.

Oh yeah! I forgot to even comment on that part. That's a new one they've come up with. The "serial number" thing. Claiming the USDA requires that is ridiculous. The USDA does not serial-code cats or dogs or anything else I'm aware of.

Besides, if everyone on the internet was suck whack-jobs and saying made up stuff, Virgil's got more than enough money to slam on a libel or slander lawsuit. He doesn't because you can't fight the truth. Eight weeks is too young to neuter a joey, and there's a difference in the minimum space an animal needs to survive and what it needs to thrive.

Folks - the USDA requirements for the conditions in which the breeding gliders (or other animals) are living are not up to the STANDARDS most of us consider to be minimum. They do not require large cages that we consider mandatory. If an animal can stand up and walk around in the cage is is OK with the USDA inspectors. That is a pretty small cage when it comes to a pair of gliders. The inspectors look more for clean cages, safely stored food, adequate water, the breeder's record keeping. etc. The USDA breeder's license makes it LEGAL to sell the joeys. The License does not guarantee the quality of the gliders care. It does not define how much interaction the glider should have with its owner (bonding). Inspectors are not going to look at toys or other enrichment items in the cage.

Virgil and company are not likely to change their business plan just because we (the online glider community) want the gliders they sell to be cared for in a manner that meets the standards of this community.

I understand each of their glider sales has a "CUSTOMER NUMBER" somewhere in the paperwork for each glider sold. They will not even talk to anyone that cannot give them the customer number when contacting them about a problem.

I am sure the "customer number" is unique to each buyer but I bet they cannot match up a particular glider to any records such as its lineage in their records since they buy joeys "in bulk". They might be able to figure out which glider mill they bought the joey from but it is not likely there would be much more information than that.

May I just add, that if Matthew is going to supply this letter to somebody going to the SGGA, it must have the original questions as well as the computer generated "credits" at the top, where it shows who it came from. This will make it more credible. After all, they want to deal only in 'facts' and 'legal documents' from what I understand.

Thank you Matthew for joining GC, and caring about the gliders like we do

Yep, there's no unique serial number for each glider.. No way there could be with how they sell them (20+ gliders per cage when they sell 'em). No possible way the sales man could tell them all apart to know their unique serial number if there was one.

Of course they go to the bare minimum! How else are they going to get 100 cages in one room????

And I guess I'm worse than you all here. I self proclaim to be a wratchet job!

Wow, that was a real "professional" letter now wasn't it? Talk about rude, uneducated and quite honestly, BUNK job!

There are "USDA licensed" breeding MILLS shut down all the time with dogs and cats.

A USDA license does NOT mean you are doing things right and humane.

Inspections are once a year (if that often).

Personally, because of (PPP) Perfect Pocket Pets and Steve Larkin and the such, I believe the USDA license to be a HUGE joke and has NOTHING to do with my decisions as to where and from whom I buy my gliders from. With almost every one of my gliders, I've been to the breeder's house. I've seen the parents my joey came from as well as their other gliders too. I saw the cages they were in, discussed the diets with them, saw the toys they had to play with and wheels to run on. I SAW my breeders KISSING my joey. I have also seen my breeders get bitter sweet over letting one of their joeys leave them.

I KNOW where my gliders came from. I know their parents and usually where their parents came from as well.

I have saved the email and the original question. If anyone wants it, PM me your email and I will forward it to you.