A brief history: Several years ago, PetSmart experimented with selling ferrets in a more humane fashion. They didn't neuter them until they were 8 weeks old, and gave them several days to recover before shipping them to their stores where they were kept in specially designed enclosures. In early 2008, PETA put out an expose on Rainbow World Exotics, who provided the ferrets for PetSmart, showing deplorable conditions for many of the animals there. A few weeks later, PetSmart decided to get out of the ferret-selling business. Rainbow sold off about half of their stock to another breeder, but the ferret community was concerned about what would happen to the remaining ferrets. With assistance from PetSmart, we got Rainbow to turn over the rest of their ferrets to a ferret rescue in Texas. PetSmart Charities provided funds for neutering and other vet bills. By having a pre-existing good relationship with the company, we were able to avert a tragedy. Linda [Posted in FML 7008]