>From:    "marie i. schatz" <[log in to unmask]>
>Jazmyn - let me add up a couple things here: you are "in the industry" and
>your were buying animals at an auction.  And it sounds like you make your
>living doing something along these lines - off of animals.  Great.
> ...
>So you are actually mad that someone selling a ferret - unaltered I'll
>bet - at an auction LIED to you.  Sorry - not only do I not have any
>sympathy for you but I find it comical - ever bought any swamp land?
 
I already answered this in private email, but I'll just cut and paste from
what I already sent.
 
I was at the auction because I had nothing better to do that day.  However,
I bid on the ferret because I had a feeling I should.  I had no interest in
breeding him and the other bidder had kids.  If the other person had bought
him, he would have very likely ended up misunderstood and possibly abused
due to being stone deaf and a biter.  I was more annoyed at the
auctioneer's claims, but that auction seems more interested in hoofstock
then small animals anyways.
 
However, I do breed exotics, but currently ONLY short-tail opossums, sugar
gliders and spiny mice.  I do not breed the rescue animals as there is
often a good reason they were unwanted in the first place.  What animals
I breed don't begin to cover my feed costs alone.  I also breed so few
animals that USDA wonders why I go to the expense of a license.  I also
offer to buy back any pets I have breed myself if it doesn't work out, thus
I don't produce unwanted animals.  People so far have been happy with the
animals and I've not had to take any back yet.  I do NOT make a living off
of animals.  I assemble PCs for a living and I breed my animals because I
have a great interest in genetics.  I wish I could make a living with
animals, but the animal rights loonies have made that near impossible.
 
However, if you want to see someone making a fortune off of the suffering
of animals, look at the Pres of the HSUS, Paul Irwin, who HSUS pays over
$250,000 a year.
 
Oh yeah..The first thing I did with the deaf ferret was get all his shots
and get him neutered.  All in all, it cost me more then it would have to
buy an already neutered and vaccinated ferret from a pet shop..
 
However, he is proving a good companion for my other ferret, who needed a
buddy anyways.
[Posted in FML issue 2697]