FERRET-SEARCH@LISTSERV.FERRETMAILINGLIST.ORG
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Fri, 30 Jan 2004 11:07:45 -0600 |
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Hi, everyone.
I just wanted to pass along something that just happened. I live in
Huntsville, Alabama. I just received a call from the Birmingham Zoo
(Birmingham is about 1.5 hours south of Huntsville) asking if I had a
ferret that I could donate to their education program. On the surface,
it seems like a good idea; a Zoo educating the public about ferrets.
However, a friend of mine who once worked for the Zoo told me that as
far as she knew, the Zoo still had a policy of telling the public that
ferrets are exotics and should not be owned as pets, even though a lot of
people do own them as pets. I asked the woman if this was still their
policy and she said yes, that exotics such as ferrets and tigers should
not be owned as pets. I asked her if she was putting ferrets in the same
group as tigers and she pointed out that ferrets are different from
tigers (obviously), but are still exotic. When I asked her for the Zoo's
definition of exotic, she told me that she was not looking for an
argument (I could tell that she was in no way anticipating that I would
be the one asking most of the questions) and that if I could not help
her, then "thank you".
For those operating shelters in the southeast, I want to make you aware
that the Zoo may be calling you. This woman was very polite, but even if
I were in the position to donate one or two ferrets, I would not donate
to an organization who is telling people that ferrets should not be owned
as pets. Unfortunately, I was not able to ask her many other questions
since she cut the conversation short.
-Mark Zmyewski
Huntsville, Alabama
[Posted in FML issue 4408]
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