Wildlife expert and Change.org blogger, Marc Bekoff, recently drew attention to the black-footed ferret recovery/reintroduction program, where thousands of hamsters are bred to serve as prey for ferrets to practice hunting.

In a recent two-year period, more than 7,000 hamsters were bred just for this purpose and over 5,000 of them were offered as live prey to the ferrets.

While the idea of a reintroduction program for ferrets is beneficial for the species, it comes at a high cost. It's been estimated that, when only considering released ferrets who survive, the cost may be as high as one million dollars per animal.

The cost to the hamsters is even higher. These animals, who are sentient just like the ferrets, live their lives only to be hunted.

Please ask the black-footed ferret recovery team to stop breeding thousands of golden hamsters solely to be fed live to captive born ferrets.

Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service