I live near the Berlin, CT, pet store that suffered a tragic fire and wanted to tell Elton that ferrets were apparently not killed. Something like 18 puppies, 4 rabbits, and several turtles died of smoke inhalation. Many, many animals were rescued, and ALL of them were adopted from a rescue vet, including quite a few who were adopted by the firemen who saved them. That's the good part of this tragic story: the pet store was apparently a really good one run by a caring man; he had to be wrestled to the ground by the fireman after he made many trips into the burning building to rescue the pets. Hundreds of people called the rescue vet to adopt the survivors. Local TV stations ran lots of stories about the firemen who administered resusitation and oygen to the puppies. One TV station repeatedly urged viewers to adopt OTHER animals at OTHER shelters (yay!) I saw TV film of a white (albino or dew?) ferret in a temporary fish tank after rescue. I wish I knew what happened to any other ferrets, but all the TV news shows insisted that all the pets had been adopted. Maybe FACT got involved. I hope so. Kat [Posted in FML issue 1851]