I have been reading about Molly and it is very sad that someone felt that
this ferret would not have a good life being blind.  Especially since this
person runs a shelter.  I was under the impression that shelters, all of
us, took in unwanted & sick ferrets to either find them homes or give them
love and affection for the remainder of their little lives.  Ferrets do
fine when blind, I have one now, she finds her food, her water, she plays,
they adjust very well.
 
This person mentioned that many do not understand what it is to run a
shelter, well, I do, and I have a house full of elderly ferrets.  There is
not one here that I would put down just because they are old, have slowed
down, or blind.  It's a lot harder to care for older ferrets, many need
special diets, but I have chosen to care for them, I go through almost 2
cases of A/D and baby food a week.  I can't leave my home for longer than
5 hours at a time.  I am the ferrets old age home I guess.  No one wants
these guys, but there is no reason to put them down.  Molly was not on a
special diet or meds, so it seems she was put down because this person
thought she was un-adoptable(which is not true) and she was another mouth
to feed?  Why didn't they post on the FML that she needed a home for
Molly?  I don't get it.  I thought shelters were here to care for the
ferrets no matter what.
 
Sure it's tough when you have many older ferrets to care for, I bust my
butt selling on ebay to feed and care for the guys I have here, I get very
little sleep, but this is what a shelter is all about isn't it?  I don't
know of any shelters with loads of money.  Look at the Utah ferrets, so
many shelters suddenly overwhelmed with extra ferrets and many sick, they
didn't euthanize those that are un-adoptable.
 
I guess my question is : why does this person shelter ferrets if they are
going to have the unwanted ones put down?  I could be wrong, but that's
what I understood from the post, the ferret was un-adoptable ,, not able
to see, so she was put down.  How many others are there that could be put
down?  I would like to say to this person who had Molly, please, next time
you have a ferret that you feel is not-adoptable, please post on this
board for a home for the ferret if you feel that you cannot keep it, I'm
sure someone will come forward and take it.
 
Sue
[Posted in FML issue 3566]