I know I should not even get involved in this, but........ I am a small hobby breeder and I see the point of both sides. I also manage a veterinary hospital, so I get to see it all. There is NO money in breeding animals of any type, unless you mass produce them, or give them less than quality care. If you are making a profit, you are doing SOMETHING wrong. If you mass produce them, unless you are wealthy and can afford a full time staff, I do not see how you can possibly take care of them, and socialize them properly. When you breed animals, you have to realize you are creating a life and you are responsible for that life, from beginning to end. If you place that animal and find out later you made a mistake or it is not being properly cared for, I believe it is your responsibility to get the animal back. I stay up until 3-4 AM taking care of mine every day and then have a full time job. They take precedence over social affairs, vacations and sometimes sleep. I am not a martyr, I do not expect sainthood. It is my choice, but I firmly believe my animals are my responsibility. They did not ask to be born, I brought them here and it is up to me to take care of them. You do not have to feed gold to come to the amount Sam does per week just the proper diet.I go well over that price easily and probably more on litter as I will only use Feline Pine. My ferrets also get cooked meat and some get spring water, so that cost is factored in. Ferrets are not easy animals to breed. A few C- sections or other medical problems and you can really run up some major vet bills. There is the cost of vaccinating all the kits and whatever else may happen in between. They can catch colds and other things just like children. People who want to breed should ask themselves some basic questions. Can you afford it? Factor all the what if's in to decide this. Find out ahead of time what your vet charges for different things. Figure ferrets can have anywhere from 1-15 kits in a litter. Can you keep them all if you do not sell them? I do not agree that we do not need genetic diversity, we do. However, even with extensive planning and research, things can and do go wrong occasionally, nature is funny that way. Can you afford to neuter and keep any that may be less than perfect ? If you HAVE TO sell them, then you should not be breeding them. I do not take in rescues, but that is so that I always have the ability to take back my own, at any time and for any reason. I seem to have the opposite problem. I DO ask for a vet reference, and I DO check references. I am told I am way too picky about choosing homes for my ferrets. Oh well, I bred them and it is my prerogative. I do not believe in placing them anywhere or with anyone just to sell them. I do not HAVE to sell them. If I find great homes I will and if I don't, then they stay. The price of selling an entire litter of kits will never come close to the price of caring for one. If you cannot comfortably deal with that, then you are breeding for all the wrong reasons and should not be doing so. Lastly, it seems that no matter what anyone writes on this list someone takes offense or finds something to flame about. If this strikes anyone that way, feel free. Do so privately though, so you do not waste everyone else's time here. Pat Stauffer Weasels http://pages.prodigy.net/staufferp/ [Posted in FML issue 2791]