In recent weeks, there have been several posts about a breeder in
Michigan who shut down, turning her breeding ferrets over to several
area shelters.
 
In some of the posts, the breeder has been praised for the care she took
of her animals, and for turning them over when she got overwhelmed rather
than neglecting them.
 
While I am glad to hear the ferrets were well cared for, I cannot condone
her allowing others to bear the burden of her decision.  The ferret
shelter community must now pay the costs of caring for her ferrets.
Not only are there the normal expenses of food, litter, ADV testing,
vaccinations, etc, it will cost thousands of dollars to have them all
spayed and neutered and I am sure there will be other medical needs.
Some are unused to handling and must be rehabilitated before they can
be adopted out.
 
Did this breeder do anything to help cover these costs?  Or did she
simply dust her hands and say "I'm done with them"?  Will she decide
in a year or two that she wants to breed again and start the cycle
over?  Will people quietly take care of it again?
 
Does no one remember Diane Bachman?  A few people quietly cleaned up
after her messes at least twice while the general ferret community
remained unaware.  Finally the situation became so bad that Animal
Control was called in and she ended up being convicted of animal abuse.
 
I think the ferret community should know the name and location of this
breeder, so we can be on our guard to prevent a repeat situation.
 
Linda Iroff
[Posted in FML issue 5082]