Roary <[log in to unmask]> wrote..
>The best place to get ferrets, if you really love ferrets and aren't
>totally doing it for yourself, is to rescue them from a shelter.
 
Totally and incredibly not true.
 
You see, on my birthday, three of the best people in the entire world
presented me with Tomoyo, a little light mocha sable girl who stole my
heart.  I'd always liked my friends (A couple that we met not too long
ago) ferrets, and played with them whenever we went over.  I liked them.
Tomoyo made me LOVE them.  She's my little princess.
 
We went to the store where Tomoyo came from, and saw a little boy all
alone.  This pet store was incredibly good, and he was separated from
the new kits that had come in.  He got regular play, had toys, and lots
of food and water.  He looked so much like Tomoyo that they could be,
and probably are, littermates.
 
We were lucky.
 
A month or so went by, and we were blessed with lots of love, kisses, and
cuddles from out precious duo.  I learned about ferret shelters, and we
decided that our next ferret would come from one.  Well, that was good
for me, and it SOUNDED good.  It was what we wanted to do.
 
It was not to be.
 
Having run out of meat treats for our two babies (We had yet to learn
about the advantages of raw meat treats) we went to the local pet store
in the mall.  I was horrified.  Puppies were in wire bottom cages that
stunk of excrement even from outside the plexiglass room that held their
cages.
 
And then I saw the ferrets.
 
A small plexiglass enclosure that looked as if someone had made it by
hand.  In this enclosure, were around four baby ferrets and one huge
boy that was obviously so much older than the others.  He was suckling
on the feet of the babies, and I knew this could cause damage.  I asked
to hold him, and felt bloat that was obviously not from eating too much.
How did I know this?  You could feel his ribs, pelvis, and spine.  He
was starving.
 
Now, I was determined to not get this ferret.  I was going to do just
as everyone said I should and not buy from a horrible pet store so that
they wouldn't get more ferrets to torture.  You know what?  They'd get
more anyway.  They'd put them in with the existing ferrets, and that
would be that.  This chocolate boy's situation brought me to tears.
I focused on him as I'd focused on no other animal.  Something just
wouldn't let me forget him.  I'd even think about him when I played with
our two furbabies.  It was as if something was pointing to this ferret
and saying 'that one.  That is the one you're going to help, because you
were meant to'.
 
Ok, I thought that was kind of messed up, too, but then something really
strange happened.  My husband called from work and said 'Look, I just
can't stop thinking about that ferret you held.  I can't get his whining
for food out of my mind, what do you think about having a third ferret?'.
It was like a sign or something.  That night, we rushed to the pet store
and brought Kokie home.  We could have used the $150.00.  Trust me, it
wasn't a 'oh, I want that weasel' purchase.
 
Today he's well fed, healthy, and has a tendency to hide food about once
a day.  He knows he's loved, but he's still got that urge to make sure
that he doesn't starve ever again.
 
I'm not writing this because I want everyone to know that 'Oh, I'm a good
person', because I already know that I am.  I was one before our rescue,
the only difference is in the way I look at things.  The way Kokie has
made me look at things.  He gave me an entirely different perspective.
 
Yes, go adopt shelter ferrets!  They need homes!  They deserve homes!
Just don't put down or chastise those who do or have done pet store
rescues.  Why?  Because sometimes you ARE meant to bring that ferret
home.  When the situation hits you that hard, it's because you were
put there to help that ferret, and because you needed eachother.  If
that sounds wishy washy, well, then, I'm all wishy-washy and proud to
be just that.
 
My point is..  do what you feel you must do.  Do it because doing
anything else would be denying what you HAVE to do.  Don't let peer
pressure push you away.  Sometimes you have to let people tsk and shake
their heads at you, and, as shelter moms know, it's not all glory.  And
if you can do it, help your local shelter and/or adopt.  The rewards are
incredible.
[Posted in FML issue 3963]