Hi-I personally asked the seller of this item (not the pelts-ewww, but
the whole mounted animal) if this ferret had been killed specifically to
be mounted or if it had died naturally, and below is the response I got.
As some of you suspected, some people keep such items as reminders of a
beloved pet, and perhaps we should give people a chance.  I myself am
saddened to see one for sale, but this person felt they sort of "rescued"
these little bodies from a potentially worse fate at the hands of someone
who only thought of them as "fur".  The beginning of the email basically
says they are unsure of the way in which the ferret died, but that they
purchased the animals from a dealer who got them from what seems like a
ranch...
 
"I was able to get 2 from him, did one for my husband as a gift and one
to sell.  I unfortunatly cannot have a real ferret at this time because
my Shepherd killed my pet ferret {which I adored} this past summer and
broke my heart {he was buried} , so having this mounted one reminds me of
him and the fun we had.  Thank you for asking, I did do the best possible
mounting job on him for dignity's sake."
 
Just FYI if it makes anyone feel better (it did me).
 
-April Armstrong Campbell
[Posted in FML issue 3937]