I don't know the circumstances in relation the person who was
announcing that she or he and someone else were a new shelter in NJ,
nor am I familiar with what people did or did not do in relation to
that location, either before people posted about it or after.

What I do know is something of the history of Fish, Game and Wildlife
in my own state of NJ, and that what they have so often done in the
past has actually been with the best for ferrets in mind, that they
have supported shelters, that they have supported ferret owners, that
they have opposed towns which tried place unfair impositions on ferret
people (even in court cases), that they have forced pet stores to clean
up after receiving reports from veterinarians on conditions (though it
really often does take a vet reporting on hospital stationery). I've
also known some of the people of FG&W because I have been curious about
the "whys" of some of our regulations, and yesterday I explained that
in our imperfect and complicated world they are NJ's attempt to reduce
hoarding, reduce the risk of abusive farms/ abusing breeding, and
protect some at risk wildlife which is starting to reestablish itself
in some of our areas with enough woodland and streams. Heck, Steve and
i have even seen one of the martens. We also very briefly saw what may
have been a second one or may have been a small fisher passing through.
The last I heard fishers are still not reestablishing in NJ but
sometimes wind up here, thought by state biologists to be due to being
caught in trucks and then getting out.

People tend to often think of the industrial areas of NJ as being NJ
but where I live we have woods, ridges with exposed rock faces, inland
swamps (including a national preserve with some animals that are found
nowhere else or almost nowhere else), a wide range of reptiles and
amphibians, many mammals including black bears, deer, raccoons,
possums, mink (which I have watched play in a pond about 500 feet from
our condo), otters (having seen one as roadkill), eastern coyotes, both
red and grey foxes, skunks, and much more, and a good range of birds
from hummingbirds up to wild turkeys and herons (though I'd like to see
more Canadian Goose control and better reduction of fertilizer since
both would help increase the proportion and variety of native songbirds
largely due to allowing some of the native plants which need acidic
soil to come back more fully). You can see why protecting the wildlife
matters.

So, no, I don't know the specifics of this would-be shelter (and have
no time nor inclination to learn those) and strongly do not want to
become part of that argument, but after 29 years in NJ this month and
maybe a year or a tad more after that from when Steve and I first had
ferrets, I do know a bit about this state and about some of our state
departments, especially ones which I have found to be open and fair
to ferrets, such as the exotics branch of NJ FG&W and the veterinary
epidemiologists of our Health Dept. For those who want to know more I
suggest seeing my post (in full and unaltered) that appeared in the
Tuesday, Sept 29th issue of the FML, issue # 6470. I certainly know
people in other states who have wished for more protection when they
have tried to close down abusive farm situations and hoarders. Also, I
know many here who love wildlife and want that protected, too, as well
as the pets protected by trying to reduce dumping of pets. Those are
issues FG&W has tried to address. No solution will ever be perfect in
an imperfect world and there is always room for improvement, but it's
better than in some other states and that's not a bad start and
certainly is one with taken with people hearts and minds in the right
place.

People can battle among themselves whether individuals did the right
things or not, and what options were tried, plus which ones remained
and I know nothing/zip/nada about that, but NJ FG&W itself I know a
decent bit about and know that it has acted as a friend to ferrets
and that there are good reasons behind its regulations.

And now that both sides of that argument are angry with me, I'll
reiterate that I am not part of your fight but am just addressing what
I felt to be unfair statements about the people and regulations of a
governmental branch I have personally many times seen help ferrets.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

[Posted in FML 6471]