In response to 'mo lab' regarding breeding their ferrets, I sent, among other things, the message following this entreaty. I am passionate about the massive over population of all pets. You can not blame just commercial breeders of any type of pet. There are also the backyard breeders, the accidental breeders, the unwanted/unkempt pets who have become 'feral' breeding on their own. And its not just the breeding that is responsible. Every time someone buys a pet from a place who gets their 'stock' from a mill, puppy mill, ferret mill, etc, you encourage those people to create more. The all might dollar speaks volumes. Buy one, they make two more. It is insanity and it is out of control. Please, please, please, if you are thinking of a pet, think rescue or shelter. Don't let your dollars encourage this horrific problem. And now the reply I sent: Thirty years ago I raised and trained Doberman Pinscher dogs. Then totally on accident, I wound up rescuing them. In one year we took in almost 100 dogs. That was 30 years ago. After a year of rescue, I will never breed anything again. Now I work with a couple of ferret different rescues in our area. Last year in this city of almost 2 million people, close to 400 ferrets were given up as unwanted. City and County officials euthanased (read that kill) over 1,000 animals a week here, because they have no home. I implore you, p l e a s e d o n ' t m a k e m o r e ! I realize you are not in our area, but this is a universal problem. Not just here, but in every city, county, and country in the world. Please, please, please, think this over carefully. Sincerely, Brenda [Posted in FML issue 4410]