Good Morning,
This situation appears to be far from over and there are criminal
charges being filed and to be filed against the individual whom I met
last week. I will not be able to share most of that information with
you as this is an on-going state and federal investigation.....but it
appears I have "opened up a can of worms." While I spent most of the
day Saturday traveling to rescue a Scottish Fold and a Tonkinese, my
cell was working overtime.
The snakes in this guy's house (rental) are his own pet snakes BUT it
appears that he is a dealer in snakes, especially the (ugh) big ones -
the carnivorous kind and most of these snakes were not at the house I
visited but in another rental house in the county where investigators
discovered more than two dozen adult snakes and many smaller snakes -
and nearly half of those snakes are illegal in the United States. Some
of the most venomous kinds from what I understand.
Kim is correct. When I gave the tape to the AG's office, they
conducted their own investigation into this guy and found out about his
business ..... and ..... this guy's VISA has long expired. So, now the
Feds are looking at this guy from several different angles and he faces
multiple federal criminal charges as well as deportation. And there are
business partners...all of them are unlicensed in different parts of
the US. Fish & Wildlife are also looking at these fellows as well.
The worst of it all is what the investigators found at the rental house
in the county. (I am crying now ..... I can barely type this....)
These people (for lack of another word at the moment) were breeding
their own feeder food.....no ferrets. But there were cats and dogs
breeding puppies and kittens.....as well as the other feeder foods of
choice for these snakes...mice, rats, guinea pigs, and chickens.
Thank God no one in this immediate tri-state area breeds ferrets or
their may have been more disturbing news to report.
The moderator is correct and I will keep my reporting to the issue at
hand, ferrets.
As I have told some folks off the FML, the only reason I think I
reported my story at all was to enlighten others to the evil that may
befall your beloved ferrets if you are not soo very careful -- not all
people are truthful and their intent for the ferrets that you give to
them is not to make them pets and to love them! And this is the reason
I absolutely despise Petco. As a rule, Petco employees do not inquire
about the people who buy them - other than type of payment. How do I
know, I have had friends go into several stores in this area wanting to
buy baby ferrets - very few employees even ask about their knowledge of
ferrets or ferret care. Anyway......
I know that I am pretty much preaching to the choir here ... especially
to the shelter moms and dads. This is the scenario we shelters work so
hard to avoid - the hard questions, the vet checks, all of it. We do it
because we must! To ensure that our ferrets go to wonderful "forever"
homes and not end up at this guy's house. I'll wager that the people
who gave their ferrets away never guessed how they were going to end
up - bet they thought they would be loved and cared for.
The debate about snakes as pets is not a debate for this forum and I
apologize for "stirring" all that up. Forgive me, for what I saw that
day, and have learned over the weekend, I admit that my emotions are
very raw at this point. Frankly, I have never been of the opinion that
God had meant for all of his creatures to be kept animals and I truly
believe not all animals should be pets. That includes the exotic cats
and reptiles. But that is my opinion. Did I mean what I said that I was
going to work with the state legislature to ban many snakes from being
kept as pets, yes I did! Did I also mean what I said when I said that I
wanted stores such as Petco to be banned from selling "feeder animals."
Absolutely! Creatures in the wild are what they are and I realize that
I cannot change their characteristics nor can I change "mother nature"
but I also believe that businesses should not profit from such "animal
behaviors" and some creatures should be banned as pet animals as they
pose a great threat to society as a whole. But again, that is my
opinion and others do not share that opinion. And to suggest that some
animals are meant to be food and nothing more ... well, how cold and
callous is that? There are many many rat, mice, and guinea pig owners
and enthusiasts that would have huge disagreements with that notion.
One is a friend of mine who loves and owns several little piggies that
she loves with all of her heart. When I need a "piggie fix" I go to her
house.....
This all occurred in my backyard and I could not sit back and just
allow it to happen! And as it turns out, the two teenage girls are
heros! The one girl, has talked to me since our initial conversation
and has broken up with her boyfriend because, as she put it, "that's
sick and I won't have anything to do with a guy that thinks that little
of animals." She has two parakeets and was really disgusted with all of
it. The other girl who called me, "Nancy" wants to visit my shelter and
help out. Her family owns terriers and she cannot adopt but she wants
to help me help the ferrets - how sweet is that!? These girls are the
heros, not me. I hope there are more of these girls out there!
The status on the two ferrets is that they seem fine except for being
skinny and now have developed upper respiratory. The kittens have
already been scooped up by my friend's cat rescue group and will be
well-cared for with them.
On a more serious note.....I was asked off FML why I took a gun. Let
me remind you where I am. I am in the tri-state area of AR/TN/MS. I
work downtown Memphis. The murder capital of the US. Three homicides
occurred over the weekend - slow weekend. My destination was in a very
very bad part of town where no one goes either unarmed or unescorted.
I am a licensed carry permit holder and have had extensive training in
firearms. Our office is located in a very crime-ridden area where a
legal assistant was assaulted and raped a month ago in a building a
block away from where I am typing from. That all took place at 5:15 pm
on a Wednesday. On more than one occasion, our office staff has heard
multiple gunfire from behind our office building during business hours.
And our office has had multiple break-ins. The last was an attempted
break-in, the alarm was signaled at 8:25 a.m. on a Friday-we usually
arrive between 8:45 am and 9:00 am! My boss has a "peacemaker" in his
bottom drawer and also carries. We all carry at this office.
I am a paralegal and strongly believe in the power of the law and
never, ever would operate beyond the scope of that law. At no time
did I ever take my weapon with the intent of taking the ferrets (and
kittens) by force and would never ever kill anyone and would never,
ever condone such criminal behavior. I have visited clients in jail and
in prison during the course and scope of my employment over the years
and do not care to ever see the other side of those bars! Why is God's
name would I take a tape recorder and call the police dispatch if my
intent was to commit murder?
People....I am not an advocate of ALF or ELF (by any means necessary)
but I do believe in doing the right thing --- all within the parameters
of the law. I know people in rescue groups, PETA, and the ALF. Some I
agree with, with others I do not. All want basically the same thing,
but some are willing to go much further to prosecute their cause in
rescue.
But I do believe in doing the right thing and when I go home tonite, I
will give the two black sables a great big hug as I have often done
have since their arrival at Raisins and pray no other fuzzies meet the
fate they were almost destined to. It was the best $250 I have spent in
quite some time and would do it again without hesitation......no
regrets, not one. I sleep very well at night and I think the sables do
as well....
Maren Doshier
Founder/President
Raisins From Heaven Ferret Rescue & Sanctuary
Hernando, MS
[Posted in FML 6386]
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