"Woolley said in response to the uproar, her farm has changed its policy and now all of the ducks it rents out to families must be returned to her farm with no exceptions." (Previously, they had a "buy" option - after "renting").
This is callous commercial practice, charging "rent" to loan a duckling, not some borrow-for-free scheme. Under normal circumstances, the farm would have to pay for the food and healthcare of its ducks until they are fully grown. Food costs money.
So this farm used the coronavirus as a cover, pretending to help families, when in fact the aim was to have people pay to feed and look after its ducks on a temporary basis. So in effect, the farm got its ducks fattened up for free. Then the ducks can be killed and the farm can profit from the sale of the carcasses.
Even under the older "buy" scheme, now stopped by the farm, the they would have made a hearty profit out of the coronavirus crisis. Families reared the ducklings, then couldn't bear to see them go. So they had to pay a sizeable amount of money to buy the animals they had reared, on top of the "rent" previously paid. This is, in effect, cashing in on people's emotions.
This is a case of "win-win" - but only for the farm profits, not for the deceived families or the poor ducks, where it is a case of "lose-lose".
I find this appalling. This sort of sharp practice should be banned under Canadian law. Time for a local petition, perhaps?
This is callous commercial practice, charging "rent" to loan a duckling, not some borrow-for-free scheme. Under normal circumstances, the farm would have to pay for the food and healthcare of its ducks until they are fully grown. Food costs money.
So this farm used the coronavirus as a cover, pretending to help families, when in fact the aim was to have people pay to feed and look after its ducks on a temporary basis. So in effect, the farm got its ducks fattened up for free. Then the ducks can be killed and the farm can profit from the sale of the carcasses.
Even under the older "buy" scheme, now stopped by the farm, the they would have made a hearty profit out of the coronavirus crisis. Families reared the ducklings, then couldn't bear to see them go. So they had to pay a sizeable amount of money to buy the animals they had reared, on top of the "rent" previously paid. This is, in effect, cashing in on people's emotions.
This is a case of "win-win" - but only for the farm profits, not for the deceived families or the poor ducks, where it is a case of "lose-lose".
I find this appalling. This sort of sharp practice should be banned under Canadian law. Time for a local petition, perhaps?
