My wife and I were shopping for a new table for our new house when we happened by a rather scuzzy-looking pet shop. I couldn't resist and went inside. The shop was clearly a fish/reptile store with the usual array of supplies and feeder-mice etc. I noticed, however, a pathetic looking cage, tucked away in a corner, looking almost abandoned and like trash. Yet it had paper under the wire floor and cat-litter in the litter boxes. It became clear that this was nothing more than a converted bird-cage. Once I was close enough, I saw something that made me snap: a tiny, just-weaned, not-more-than-6-week-old, sable kit curled up in the cavernous ceramic food bowl. I am a professional with a career but I could not contain myself. I'm also a 300-pound ex-college football defensive lineman and despise people who are cruel to animals. My wife attempted to calm me as she saw my hands clench and face twist in rage. At this point, the owner of the flesh-shop came over to ask if he could "help" us. Saying nothing, I simply reached out to the cage and ripped the door from its rusty hinges, leaving it hanging by the lock- a lock he spent more on than food for this tiny helpless baby. As the "man" began to voice his objections stating that I owed him a new cage, my wife tried to keep him away from me as I gently lifted this beautiful little kit, trembling, from his hiding spot. It was more than clear that he was nothing more than a cheap attempt to get a few dollars from someone infatuated with the fad of ferrets. As I cradled the little kit in my hand, I smashed the cage with my other, sending clay scattering and reducing the food-bowl to ceramic shards lodged in my hand. I turned to face the owner as he began shouting he was calling the police and that I was going to jail for vandalism. I shoved him against the wall and told him if my wife wasn't there with me, I would have probably beaten him to a pulp for being so abusive. I then turned and walked out as he was screaming into the phone that he needed the police. Once the police arrived, I had already given the kit to my wife to take home in my truck. I offered to make restitution to the owner as well as pay him for the kit. Fortunately, along with an apology, the guy accepted. The police, however, still charged me with disorderly conduct and arrested me. At my trial last week, the judge found me guilty and I was fined $550. The kit was malnourished and very dehydrated but our vet, who is fantastic with ferrets, got us back on track. Our newest little rescue is doing well and is showing no signs of the abusive hell he was in. Nothing but TLC now. It was worth every single minute and dime and getting a police record. I only regret that this fleshmerchant is still in business. [KM] [Posted in FML issue 2591]