I can still see those intelligent little faces peering out of their nesting
boxes at us on Sunday.  Two rows of little albino females with one sable
mitt were intently looking, very few ventured out on the wire bottom of the
cage to sniff inquisitively at our fingers.  We were cautioned at the
beginning to not stick our fingers into the cages and were told repeatedly
throughout the visit how much they bite.  When we had looked at all in that
hall, we were then escorted to the next hall where the sables were kept.  We
noticed that there were jottings on the wooden doors (bred 6/26/96, 3 kits
born, 2 died, 2 living, sick?, etc.) At the very last pen, we noticed a
little female with severe hairloss (the notation on her pen said that she
had had babies 7/11/96).
 
We told them that we were interested in her and they informed us that we
would have to buy a male also since they only were selling them in pairs.
That in itself seems odd since they have less than 1/2 the number of males
to females.  We were then escorted out back to see the males.  There we were
also greeted with the faces peering out of the boxes.  While we were looking
at the males, Mr. Friend was regaling us with stories about how bad they
bite and how two of the last three pens are the worst biters.  By this time,
Lynda is in another area and has two ferrets in her arms, Kaye has a male
mitt in her arms and Troy Lynn has an albino male in hers (one of the
alleged biters), and Mr. Friend was backing away from us and telling us not
to get too close to each other.  No one got bitten, we were all being
careful and were talking quietly to all these babies.  I'm sure Mr. Friend
probably thought we had taken leave of our senses.
 
When we left, we took five with us (1 female with hairloss and pregnant, 1
male with different size eyes, 1 blind female, 1 male considered not a good
breeder, and one mitt).  We had to leave many albino, sables, and a few mitt
breeders and four kits (all whole).  These females are being bred every time
they come in heat.  The babies are taken away from mom by the time they are
four weeks old and then moms are rebred.  WE NEED TO RESCUE ALL OF THESE
ANIMALS.
 
Please help in any way you can so that we can rescue these poor babies.
Keep this injustice from continuing.  If you are one of those people who
intends to help and hasn't taken the time, NOW IS THE TIME.  Money,
Transportation, bodies, ideas, anything that you can do to help will be
appreciated.  HELP, HELP, HELP.
 
*Hugs*
Nancy
[Posted in FML issue 1708]