I'm the "gal who sees nothing wrong with auctioning of pets." In response to the following arguments that auctioning is a horrible thing to do to a comanion animal: 1. People should pay $200 for their pets or they will not care for or value their investment. Pets are NOT an investment. I payed a total of $210 for my two guys and at this point they are worth more than money or material wealth to me. Love has no price. Saying that people do not value pets that they have not payed a large initial price for is an elitist attitude. It is basically an attempt to keep these pets out of the hands of the poor or lower class people who are automatically assumed to be incompetent and irresponsible pet owners. I reject that. Yes, a pet owner must be able to pay vet bills, but there's no reason to think that he won't do so for a cheap or free pet. 2. People who attend auctions are just indifferent passersby on the street and will buy a ferret because they like to shout out their bids. You don't know that these people haven't been visiting the pet store every day to make kissy noises at these baby ferrets. Yes, they might be jerks, but having people buy from an expensive breeder who puts them through a vigorous ferret education is no guarantee that the ferret will get a good home, either. People don't inherently value things that they spend money on. Don't you know people who never change the oil on their $20,000 car? Do you think they would change the oil every 3000 miles if they had paid $25,000? 3. Auctioned animals are sold cheap. Items that are auctioned often sell for MORE than their value. It was said that the aforementioned auctioned ferrets sold for $80. Sounds like a fair price to me. 4. Auction buyers will not receive adequate information regarding ferret handling and care. It's nice if pet stores hand out good information and supplies, but there is nothing keeping a new ferret owner from getting these things from another pet store or other source. It is the responsibility of the buyer to educate himself on how to care for a pet, not the responsibility of the seller. Even people that don't have $250 can usually read. This is proven by the person who called and asked if their ferret could play under the stove. If that person was irresponsible, would he have gone to the trouble to get the advice? 5. Horse auctions are different because the people who buy horses at auctions are willing to spend more money. More elitism. Maybe we don't need people who are in charge of deciding who gets to own a pet and who doesn't. I would suggest finding something more concrete to complain about than someone who never bothered you who is trying to liquidate a pet store that is not making money by selling its contents to people who would like to buy. -Catherine [Posted in FML issue 1565]