Hi Everyone,
 
I am happy to say that out of the rescue moms and the 18 babies, we have
7 left for adoption.  I have 5 sable males and 2 sable females.  They
were both on 5/17/04 and 5/18/04.  They will be ready to go to their
homes about mid-august.
 
This past weekend I got a call from a friend of mine who works at
Petsmart who said that a gentlemen came in looking for two kits to go
with his other two kits he got from a petstore.  I took down the number
and called him.  The man seemed nice, he had worked for another pet store
for many years and always owned ferrets.  The two kits he took in were 6
weeks old (Marshall Farm Babies).  Now the Pet Store (with which he quit
because of situations like these), didn't care if they lived or died
because Marshall's sent them to the store with no food or water and
recently altered (maybe a week prior).  Their incisions were infected
and they were severely dehydrated.  The man seemed genuinely nice.  He
had those two for 6 weeks and he wanted 2 more.  He wanted rescues that
needed a good home (which is always nice when people want to take a
rescue) and he wanted the kits to each have a play mate.  I explained to
the gentlemen that situation with the Canadian kits and that they can go
to their new homes when they are 12 weeks or old after they got their
three distemper shots.  Depending on the size of them when they hit 8
weeks (if they aren't the size they should be, etc.) then I do it when
they hit 9 weeks.  I also told him that the babies are unaltered and as
such since he wanted two, I only felt comfortable giving him two boys
(to prevent an accidental pregnancy) and the babies could not be altered
before 6 months and when altered he gets an alter rebate of $25 with
proof of neutering.  The man got real quiet and said that he understood
about the two males though he would have liked to have two and two.
 
Now are all probably thinking where is this going.  Well this is where
I got upset....The man asked me what color they were and when I told
him that they were sable, the man told me that he didn't want those
ones...... he wanted a pretty one.  I told him color shouldn't matter if
the ferret is a pet because the personality should matter.  Also most
times the ferrets choose their champions.  So I told the man that he
would need to get the ADV testing done on the ferret before I would even
attempt to introduce any other ferret to his own.  The man told me that
he would not spend the money to test them if I was only offering him
sables and he was told that I had other colors.  I explained to him that
there were not many chocolates and only 1 cinnamon and 1 albino and they
were all taken within 2 weeks.  But it upset me that the man thought the
sables weren't pretty.
 
So many people I have talked to have told me that they thought sables
were ugly or that they didn't want it because it was sable.  Well some
of my favorites are sables.  I have other colors too but they all have
certain personalities.  He was not the only one I talked to.  I also got
an email from a woman on this post who told me she didn't want sables
because they were nasty.  It pains me that these ferrets are being judged
before they are given a chance.  They are all so sweet and beautiful.  I
cannot help that they are sable.  But they need homes too.  Babies are
expensive to take care of and if not for that I would give them to good
homes but as a shelter, I cannot take that huge of a loss.  I am pulling
money out of my own pockett for these babies and it doesn't matter to me
that I am hurting my credit, I just want them to go to good homes but
there is an adoption fee.  I have been flamed offline for advertising the
babies for adoption.  Now I don't know if they are new people or not.  Of
course i am going to throughly check them over and make sure that a baby
is right for them.  Most people got pet store babies (sometimes raptors)
and went through the stage and understand it.  Others have never had a
baby baby.  I interview these people and find out their experience.  If
I didn't think they were right, they I won't adopt.  It's as simple as
that.  I have talked to several really nice people on this post that
expressed and interest and might still be thinking about it or are
adopting.  I post here becuase you are all previous or current ferret
owners or might know someone interested in adopting.  Everyone gets
interviewed before taking the baby.  Some of you I know but I still have
them sign agreements and I still ask questions.  Right now if not for my
two sub shelters, I would have to impose on other shelters to take in
rescues.  Right now I cannot take any more rescues in until these babies
are placed or go to their new homes.  I feel bad but I need the cage
space.  The worst part is that the one humane society thought the one mom
had an adrenal.  I can't help but think what would have happened if she
had given birth there, the babies might not have made it because she had
litter complications.  But the babies are healthy and getting very big.
So please no more flames on or off the post.  I am tired to explaining
why I am charging an adoption fee, why I am trying to adopt the kits
before from rescue moms, etc., etc., etc.  Any shelter that has had to
deal with babies, can tell you that it's a lot of work and especially
when you take in two and end up with 20.  Even more so when you try to
limit your rescues to less than 25 and in one leap you go over that.
So if anyone is interested, please let me know, you can email me at
[log in to unmask]
 
Everyone thank you for listening and thank for your time.  Have a happy
4th of July!
 
Sincerely,
Dawn Smith, Vice President
Legion of Superferrets
[Posted in FML issue 4559]