Hello all -- There have been a number of postings in recent months regarding negligent or cruel treatment of ferrets in pet stores. I've talked & talked & TALKED to sales people at 2 stores in my area (to no avail) trying to get them to move their "merchandise" from small aquaria with cedar chip bedding to something more healthy and appropriate. This is soooooooo frustrating -- and I can't afford to buy all of the babies to rescue them, nor would I want to encourage the stores in their bad practices by doing so. What to do? It occurs to me that we need a well-written (I'm an English teacher; I can't help it) clear and informative handout to give to the store personnel so they don't think it's just me (or you)--that weird ferret nut--complaining about nothing. It should include whatever scientific/veterinary information is available as well as a bibliography for further reading (not that I expect pet store managers to go in search of the listed resources, but it would look impressive). I don't know enough to write such a document, but some of you surely do. We could put it in a separate FAQ so that any of us could download it as needed & have copies to pass out. If someone puts it together, I'd be glad to edit it & collaborate to the best of my ability. So whaddaya think? Dina [Posted in FML issue 1490]