Urban's comments about banning pet stores from selling ferrets in his home country raises some interesting thoughts in my own head. We've all heard the stories about ferrets that were improperly, sometimes atrociously, cared for, and we've all seen animals who showed signs of being abused. I think this problem is particularly rampant with ferrets because they're so time-intensive and because their (undeserved?) status in our society as "exotic" pets tends to make them attractive to people who just want something cool and different, not a wonderful companion animal. I have a friend who has a young male she adopted from someone who had no idea how to take care of him and wasn't likely to put out the effort to learn; Diane offered Rocky's first owner anything he wanted in exchange for him, if I remember the story right, in order to provide a decent home. Anyway, all this makes me wonder if banning pet stores from selling ferrets might be a good idea. Not because of any characteristic of the ferret, besides the need to spend a lot of time and effort caring for them, but because pet stores will sell to anyone and often can't support the animal properly. A good friend of mine works at a pet supply store, and once had someone come in who had just bought a ferret at the local Pet Docktor (sp?) in the mall and had been told they were members of the cat family, therefore he would feed his ferret cat food instead of the excellent ferret food they sell. Also, every pet store I've ever seen sells Marshall Farms ferrets, which aren't as good pet stock (no offensive to MF ferrets and owners meant) as breeder ferrets. They also sell them for much more money (I paid $35 for Scooter to a local breeder) and alter them too young. The woman I bought Scooter from would never have sold him to me had she not thought I would provide a good home, and has been outstandingly supportive and helpful in my efforts to understand ferret psychology, etc. Without Sue's guidance, the adjustment period Scooter and I have gone through (he's my first ferret) would have been much more difficult and less productive. Pet stores just don't provide that kind of support most of the time. She even calls me occasionally to see how he's doing and offered to take him back and give me another when I had trouble bite-training him. I would never have exchanged an animal like a broken toaster, but no pet store I've ever heard of guarantees their animals that solidly. I guess my point is that I see no reason to buy ferrets from a pet store, and every reason to buy from a breeder if there is one in your area. I think stopping pet stores from selling ferrets might be a good step forward for ferrets and for their owners. Chris and Scooter the Weasel Without a Cause [Posted in FML issue 0851]