Someone asked for this address a few days ago:
      Breeder's Digest    P.O. Box 2371   Leesburg, VA  22075
 
This is a quarterly home-published mag edited by Vickie McKimmey, who is
also a AFA show judge and ferret rescuer, in addition to breeding gorgeous
ferrets.  For 4 issues, send a check for $10., payable to Vickie.  If you
just want a single sample issue, please send $3.
 
Until recently, most of the breeders have been located in PA, MD, and VA,
but now the reputation of this publication is spreading, and breeders from
other areas are publishing their information.  Anyone who wants to advertise
as a breeder must fill out a fairly lengthy questionaire on their breeding
practices.
 
This has turned out to be a very good way for responsible breeders to
regulate themselves through the potent force of peer pressure.  It's
happened more than once that it becomes known that a breeder isn't taking
good enough care of their ferrets, isn't careful about who they sell to, or
is otherwise violating one of the many rules good breeders adhere to.  Then
this person gets "the cold shoulder" from other breeders: nobody wants to
use their studs, swap kits with them, or refer buyers to them.
 
Anyway, I doubt that the small breeders could ever replace the local pet
store as a source of ferrets, but the cost is often about the same, and you
get the peace of mind of knowing where the animal came from and that both
kit and parents were well cared for.
 
Judith Sanders
[Posted in FML issue 1605]