Hi, After reading the cruel way (& this is an understatement) that Pet Supermarket treated Hope & other ferrets in their care, I decided to check out the one in my area. Unfortunately, they were closed when I got there. I will be going back though. So we stopped at the local Pet Co. To tell you the truth, for the most part I was pleasantly surprised. As some of the other stores I have been in were to say the least a disgrace. They had a hammock, a blanket & a couple toys to play with. Unfortunately, there was not a litter box in the cage, but it was spotless (I would love to know how they did this with 6 ferrets, my 2 have to crisen (sp?) a clean litter box instantly!) & odor free. The ferrets were all very friendly & didn't even try to nip, like the were frequently handled & played with. The employees were very knowledgeable (I was playing stupid) & actually recommended that I do a little research & purchase Ferrets for Dummies. They told me that they had been taking one of the babies to the Vet because she was getting longer but not filling out. The Vet had even given her steroid injections, but is starting to think that maybe it is juvenile insulinomia. I was not happy with the type of cage they were in. It was a smaller octagon cage than what most store use, but it was probably 3-4 ft tall, not including the stand. The only openings were 2 solid, I guess Plexiglas, doors. There was a small gap around the doors, that was all the ventilation I saw. However,I was only there about 10 minutes. A customer told me that someone had just hit my car & drove off. So I had to go file a police report. I just can not believe people's attitudes anymore. They do not respect you or your property. They act like just because animals can not speak that they also can not feel pain. What is the world coming to?! I really enjoy being part of this list. Except for a few squabbles you truly are caring people that come together in a crisis. Oh, one other thing. I overheard a couple employees talking about having to take a feeder rat to the vet. She said that someone had brought the rat back because it was too big for their snake. They figured this out after they had to remove the poor rat from the snake's mouth. Now the rat's face was crushed. She was pretty upset about the situation. She said that she told the people not to come back. OK, I'll shut up now. Alexis [Posted in FML issue 3810]