I have gotten permission to cross-post this story from Julie, the author, and fellow ferret parent. We have been in touch for a few weeks and hoped that her ferret baby would have been okay with vet and supportive care, but that didn't happen. The vet she went to has also seen similar cases recently. I just got off the phone with her and couldn't help but cry along with her. This ferret was purchased from a Petco in Richfield, MN. When she called the store, all they said was, "Bring in the receipt of a refund". She didn't want a refund! She wanted answers and was concerned about future babies handled at that store. If anyone reading this has had this happen with a Marshall Ferret, please let us know. We are trying to get to the bottom of how this could happen and hope that other babies won't suffer the same horrible death. Thanks, Liz ...in the Company of Ferrets, Inc. Reply to: [log in to unmask] Date: 2008-03-13, 8:35PM CDT Tonight I put my little Ben to sleep. He is 11 weeks old at most. I have had him for a month. For half of that month he was full of beans and dooks, just like a baby ferret should be, for the other half I have watched him become sickly, and now die. I bought Ben from a PetCo -- a move I knew better than to make, but did anyway. Somewhere between the God awful ferret factory called Marshall Farms (where whether you know it or not, if you own a ferret and are reading this, at least 85% of your fuzzies came from.) and the dirty smelly cage of PetCo, Benny caught Distemper, a virus that is almost 100% fatal to ferrets. If that isn't bad enough, he was nowhere near the age they told me he was, nowhere near old enough to be shipped across the country in a truck with more ferrets than room move. He now lays across my lap, not strong enough to move, face twisting and neck contorting as the virus attacks his brain. (did I mention I've spent the last three days feeding him every 4 hours day and night,giving him antibiotics, hoping it was just a bad cold?..If I couldn't have saved him nothing could.) Before I leave for the vet to leave my little guy behind, just remind yourself how awful these pet stores are. I knew before Ben, and I have just received a horrible reminder. I am mad at myself. I am a joke -- I won't eat meat but I will support these animal abusers? I know PetCos and PetSmarts are convenient, but please, the next time you go in one, realize how horribly they treat these animals. Realize that if an animal is too sickly looking to go out on display, they quietly kill them in back. Realize that when I called to tell them they might have a distemper outbreak in their store, that they should sanitize and make sure the animals there were safe, the manager simply told me to find my receipt and bring it in, as if I wanted to make a return. I long for a day where animals are not treated as a product, where they are not traded, sold or bartered. Where they are not disposed of when they become an inconvenience or neglected when they are too much work, too much money, or not the right fit. WE have domesticated them and made them dependent on US and WE are the ones responsible for the thousands upon thousands of animals abused, killed and forgotten each year. Love you Benny. [Posted in FML 5912]