I mentioned losing 4 ferrets when actually I have lost 5.  The 4 were the
most recent so maybe they are on my mind more, especially since it has been
one right after another.  I didn't mean to over look George who was the
1st.  It is just that my heart has healed from that loss & his memories
have filled the empty spot.  The other 4 are still very new.
 
After posting the 1st part I had work to do & my post kept running through
my mind.  After posting & shutting down I went to bring the big boys out
of their cage for play time.  I knew that there wasn't going to be a pudgy
little Sammy face or a bright eyed sable Max face eagerly looking at me
waiting to come out.  I had to let them go.  I will never see them alive
again.  I will never feel the softness of their fur against my face, or
their wet kisses.  I will never hold them again, I will never see them in
the crazy positions they got into when they slept, Max in particular, he
was always to be found in some odd ball, contorted position that looked
painful to me.  Never again except forever in my heart & memories.  Is my
pain greater than someone that has come to the decision that they have to
give up there ferrets, not to death, but to a loving home?  No it isn't.
Perhaps for a few, but I think it is a heartbreaking choice.
 
Should I or others who have lost fuzzies that had to go to the Bridge,
be the only ones to have sympathy for that loss?  No.  I have been an
emotional wreck recently & am now physically sick with grief.  And felt
sicker when I read someone was feeling heat because they had to give up
their baby.  And if I would have been able to write this 20 minutes
sooner you would have known my anger at the people attacking this person.
Truthfully I did not read the original post but just the title, which I
think said something like "Ferret for sale".  And today didn't read the
whole post where that person was getting flamed or I would have been
sicker.
 
So what if this person is selling the ferret?  Don't you pay for a ferret
you get from a pet store, from a breeder, from a shelter?  And even if the
post would have said "free ferret", there is no such thing.  Free ferrets
can cost just as much as any other ferret.  I have "free" ferrets, other
people have "free" ferrets that have spent hundreds & even thousands of
dollars on them.  George & Blossom were free.  George cost nearly $1,000 in
medical bills, Blossom is over that now, she has had 2 surgeries, & is now
on monthly Lupron injections.  Samantha was free, her medical bills were
not.  Dakota was "free" & she had one surgery & extensive care when she
crashed afterwards.  Max & Sammy were paid a small adoption fee.  And do
you know what?  The cost to my heart is dreadfully more than all of the
medical costs added up.  Look at all of the "free" ferrets that end up in
shelters, or that are dumped out & don't even get that far or abandoned
only to be saved too late.
 
If someone wants to be angry about something, take your anger & do
something constructive with it.  Direct it towards the idiots that ruled
against Kim, (Kista) or the woman that "rescued" all of those ferrets in
the first place.  Direct it towards people that are abusing & neglecting
ferrets & other animals so it won't happen again.  If you know of a shelter
in your area go talk to the operator of that shelter, no matter if it is
for ferrets or other animals.  Get mad at all of the people that don't give
a damn for the animals they abandon.  In fact it wouldn't hurt to go to
shelters now & then if not to help to look.  See how they are run, how the
animals are faring.  Don't let something like has happened in NJ before &
recently again.  Maybe if people would have been to that woman's shelter &
seen how bad the conditions were something could have been done so they
didn't get as bad as they were.  I think her excuse was something along the
lines that she came upon hard times & wasn't able to care for everything
the way she should have.  I don't exactly remember that, but I remember the
pictures.  Do we want people to not post that they need to find a home for
their ferrets?  To be afraid to post it?  To be so desperate that they dump
them, be it in a shelter or along the road.  Look how mad we got about the
little ferret kept in a ball.  The person wanting to sell a ferret to get
it a good home came to this list to try to find it a good home.  They are
doing that much.
 
If I could take that ferret & any other ferret that needs a home I would.
And I would give the person having to part with it a big hug & tell them
heartfelt, "Thank you, for letting me have this precious little life".
 
Lynn & Clan War Weasels
[Posted in FML issue 3325]