Mink do not show up in rescue, that's just the way it is.
Oh, really? Hmmm ..... well, here you go - a partial list of the first page only out of twenty-plus pages of MINK RESCUE (most also rescue ferrets) sites I found today:

http://www.animalrescuers.co.uk/ferretrescue/
http://www.veggies.org.uk/acd/europe...ue/countyo.htm
http://washingtonferret.org/photos.shtml
http://www.biologie.uni-osnabrueck.d.../lutreola.html
http://www.wildliferescue.ca/Stories...tory_Clips.htm
http://home.att.ne.jp/blue/ferret/eg_ft_b2.html



Yes there are MANY laws/licensing needed to breed any exotic or endangered animal. If you read I stated first off you would need a USDA license for anyone who seels/breeds/gives away an exotic pet. For buig game mammals you need a holding and propagating license, for endangered or threatened species you need a CITES permit. There are VERY strict requirements that need to be met but all of the people who issure these licenses. You need to feed the right food, have spacious enclosures, and they come inspect your facility BEFORE they issue the license. You have to meet all aspects of the Animal Welfare Act.
Well, maybe in theory. You know as well as I do (or at least you should know, if you are a rescue), however, that I - or anyone else - could go on the internet right now with a credit card and purchase ANY exotic animal we wanted. I could own a whole zoo by this evening! It's done all the time. "Spacious enclosures", my rear-end. If you do exotic animal rescue, you have seen first hand the way these animals live. I saw two tigers this summer, living in an asphalt parking lot, in dog kennels. The "permit" to keep these animals was plainly posted on their dog kennel. It's pathetic, it's an abomination ... and ANYone involved in rescue has seen it and knows it.



Before you comment on a particular species please do your research.
I didn't comment on a particular species. I plainly stated, "I'm don't know what kind of tortoise you have, but many, many species of turtles and tortoises are endangered..." I said in the first sentence that I didn't know what kind you had, therefore I wasn't commenting on any particular species ... I was making a general comment about many species. Before you misquote me, please read more carefully.

Futhermore, you said, "As for my tortoise I have a California Desert Tortoise , yes heis endagered and not because of the pet trade." That is not true. I have listed a few quotes below, there are about 1,000 more on the internet, stating that the pet trade is indeed one reason why the California Desert Tortoise is endangered today.

"The desert tortoise is an endangered species. It has suffered an enormous decline in population sizes (up to 55% is some areas) due to the loss of habitat, over collecting and vandalism. In 1974, a law was passed making the practice of collecting wild tortoises illegal. However, many are still taken from their habitat for zoos and for their large shell." Source: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.ed...s/g._agassizii$narrative.html

And ... "Tortoises have suffered declines due to the degradation of habitat, predation of eggs and young, disease, and collection for the pet trade." Source: http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/sh...?imageID=19318

And ... "Habitat destruction, pet trade, automobiles, and respiratory disease have reduced their numbers greatly. The respiratory disease was introduced into wild populations when people released infected desert tortoises they had as pets in an attempt to help re-establish the population. Unfortunately, it did more damage than good. Source: http://www.sfzoo.org/cgi-bin/animals.py?ID=46


Now stop with the finger pointing and get over it.
Nope, sorry, not going to happen. We are all entitled to our opinions, and we all have the right to voice them. Which I will continue to do, now and always, whenever I see a "rescue" buying unweaned baby animals from an unethical breeder via the internet. It's part of my responsibility as an ethical rescuer to do so.