well, I see where most of the blame is put on those two organization for our over population but the real blame is the people buying them. They aren't educated on what it takes to take care of them and thus they see this cute little comical thing and want it only to learn later the . If anything should be done it is either to price the ferrets so high that most buying them at first sight will think twice or research it AND get either of them to produce a paper or booklet the people have to read and sign before they are allowed to buy a ferret. Lets face it, there is a "market" out there for ferrets. As long as people keep buying them, they are going to keep selling/breeding them which is a product. Petco is pushing people more towards rescues to adopt from than selling as their markup is not so much on the ferrets as in the merchandise that goes with them. Marshalls sometimes can't even keep up with the demand for them, I've been told by a couple of stores with their bins empty they have ferrets on back order even going to Path Valley or Triple F to get them when MF can't produce. I really don't know what the answer is, I just know it is a problem and placing the blame on that source is not reality. Especially when I get calls of ferrets that are 4 or 5, even 7 years old, where people want to turn them in. That has nothing to do with how many Petco and MF are putting out there, they aren't wanting more ferrets, just tired of having them period. That is ownership, the lack of real love, the mentality of the public, the treating of animals as if they are a decorative piece of furniture. Then again, putting a higher price on them won't make some think twice before investing that kind of money or keeping some from being turned in - I have seen even $3,000 English Bulldogs at the animal shelters from owner surrenders, overload of Labs and Cockers that as puppies sold for $300 to $500. It is not just the ferrets that are being overproduced and being bought on impulse, its consumers being the problem. If there is no market, there is no "Product" worth keeping in stock. If there is a market, then look what happens. If you put restriction on sellers, then you have back yard breeders keeping them in horrid condition and selling the kits off them with no medical protection. And backyard breeders aren't going to get them fixed and descented and sell them at a cheaper price, it cost an arm and a leg to get that done. I've known some vets that charge $450 to descent and $250 up to spay or neuter. The farms have vets on hand to do it. Very few consumers in comparison would want a ferret that wasn't fixed and descented due to the smell. IF you put a restriction on the breeders they can't till the ferrets are 6 months old, they won't and will sell as is and then there is the danger of whole ferrets out there, males stinking and giving ferrets a bad name and females suffering a horrid death because the owners won't spend that kind of money to have them fixed. Bottom line, true more ferrets come from farms and more are sold by Petco than any other chain but its not as much their fault as it is the consumer who buys and then dumps them whether it is right when they get them or when they reach old age. Millie Sanders at Txferretrescue.org with Texas Ferret Lovers Rescue and connecting Foster homes and sanctuaries [Posted in FML 7990]