Okay, #1 to put that subject to rest, I HOPE.........my information on Rainbow and Petco came from a regional manager over 3 States. Also Rainbow sent their ferrets up to Pa to be sold at auction two weeks ago when they were getting out of ferret breeding. They are still claiming they are getting out of the ferret business. Now that doesn't mean other animals, we are talking ferrets. So I don't know how Petco received a load of ferrets from Rainbow unless that is the last of their "stock" in the ferret business or it came from another breeder that you knew wasn't Marshal Farms and assumed it was RE. If you work for Petco and they did come in, then again I would feel that is the last of their stock UNLESS they do decide to continue to breed them - and that is not beyond them. I did not say ALL backyard breeders were bad. And let me clear up what a backyard breeder is: Backyard breeders is now a term used in the dog and cat industries to cover animals being breed in volume by individuals that are NOT companies or corporations which are set up to take care of their "stock". Breeding a ferret ever now and then is not considered a backyard breeder. Yes I have friends who bred one or two litters a year and kept them in the house. My best friend did intending to be a breeder - she bought a lot of the ferrets from Amy Fleming in Michigan when she moved to UK. She had trouble all the way from having just 1 or 2 kits to the mama closing up before she finished birthing, had to go caesarian at $350 each time. She kept the litters with her in her bedroom and it smelled bad even though she kept it exceptionally clean as she did the rest of her house. It was very offensive and worse than the adult ferrets, natures way to protect them from predators supposedly. I personally had 15 whole ferrets (not all at one time) I had them fixed when they were a year old, I wasn't breeding, I just wanted ferrets that were not farm ferrets due to the controversary on adrenal problems. (proved not to be the truth as they did have adrenal tumors also - now it is claimed to be the light not the early spaying neutering that causes the adrenal problems.) AND while whole, OH did they stink. Boys were loving and sweet and wanted attention wanted to be picked up all the time but they did splash on the toilet water, their coats turned YELLOW, sticky yellow, they drew lines with their little pencils across the floor, food dishes, bedding (I never caged mine) so if a female wanted to trace them down, they wouldn't have any trouble doing so. If you picked one up, you got the odor on you strong enough you had to wash, change clothes whatever because it was there period, it was not at all like handling a fixed ferret. I don't believe in bathing them unless its a haveto case because it dries them out. When they get older they scratch due to dry skin just like people do. I did have to bath these regularly, it didn't help much. I could put the boys together as long as a female wasn't among them and not have a problem but not the females, they were little toots and grumpy, they fought each other tooth and nail and they would spray each other just because they felt like it, grumpy. In the air, that fades in 10 to 15 minutes on their coat, that stays. Mine were pets, came in at different times, never more than 3 or 4 whole at a time. I would hate to think how much worse it would be if they had been a bunch here for breeding. So keep in mind when I say backyard breeders, it doesn't always mean they were kept out in the hot Texas sun. I mean if they are done in a larger scale, you just aren't going to keep a dozen whole ferrets in your livingroom and try to watch tv if you have any sense of smell. Now to breed one or two, not so bad but you sure can't supply the USA with enough for people to have them as pets. What happens is when there is a demand for something, people seeing the big $ hop on board and you have unregulated, unwatched backyard breeders treating ferrets like objects, just like the dog and cat industry. If you think Path Valley is better, fine but when I say MF I am referring to the big farms period. If they are big enough to supply the demand of ferrets, then they should have some kind of regulations and be inspected regularly and in face of a whole lot of backyard breeders who aren't big enough for regulations and they are the ones who slip through fingers. I obviously cannot make those who have sealed their hearts see sometimes cutting off a source is far far worse than seeing the good in it and trying to work it to be better. I talk from experience when I say backyard breeders, having seen some horrific situations, having had whole ferrets of my own, having worked with people in power with first hand knowledge, - I do not go by rumor or what someone else has claimed they know about (such as they give bribes under the table to the inspectors so they can mistreat ferrets more). I cannot say Petco DID NOT receive shipments in other states from Rainbow but from what I do know, it just doesn't make sense to me. Millie and her Cleaning Crew www.Txferretrescue.org [Posted in FML 5892]