warning to others

[Merifield]

And before anyone else tears shreds out of anyone else... you all keep mentioning THE BREEDER... there was no breeder. There was some bloke that buys "job lots" of baby animals ... gets them mutilated in Ireland and then
passes them on to naive people who want an exotic pet.
I really can't believe the attitude here.
OK OP partner was daft and threats solve nothing... BUT why are you not asking why a 7 week old skunk kit was separated from it's mother put through this horrible operation and lost it's life shortly after because of an animal "dealer".
Sadly it's starting to look like you want to keep the dealers sweet so you can get the next "must have".
There was no breeder.There were multiple breeders prepared to sell just for profit. The guy bought 15 baby skunks for dogs sake!!!!!!
Don't try and tell anyone he's decent and please don't try to persuade me that anyone who had anything to do with him is humane.

[miss_ferret]

im not sure how to word this so bear with me. noone is painting the supplier to be a saint, i dont agree with his practices but its cause and effect. people want (and will pay more for) 'baby' animals and descented skunks. hence why kits are sold too young and descented. if buyers create a market it will be supplied by someone and if that market is the wrong side of the legal/ethical line then suppliers will find ways round it (descenting in ireland for instance). i am not defending the supplier however i am not supporting the op either. there is 2 sides to this problem, unfortunatly it cost a skunk its life, and its with the skunk where my sympathy lies.

[Merifield]

The point I'm making is that hardly anyone actually reads what has been written. There are dozens of posts on this thread that mention "the breeder".
If anyone had read any post properly, without immediately jumping to the defence of their hobby regardless of the facts ,they would have realised that
it is probably impossible to trace "the breeder" because the guy who bought these animals "en masse" probably didn't even look at them and wouldn't have a clue which came from where.
I am not averse to keeping exotic animals having kept Marmosets and Squirrel monkeys... what baffles me is the need to have them living as part of the family, having to buy them as barely weaned in the vain hope they wont learn to bite, to squash any natural behaviour because it wont fit in with the "cream carpet and sofa". The need to dominate and mould things is to me one of the most horrible traits of humans and it is costing animals their lives and not just in this instance either.
For myself I took pleasure in keeping my animals as naturally as I could,
if they decided to come sit on me and take a treat it was great, when my
female squirrel monkey had her first baby and passed it to me just for a nano-second to hold it was shear bliss but I never for one moment would forget that they were wild animals and were entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. And sadly that isn't the case anymore is it?
Exotic animals are a commodity and the more exotic the more desirable.
Where does compassion come into all this?
After all compassion and empathy are two things that are supposed to make us the superior beings.
Rant over and sorry so long.