I have never wrote a posting but I would like if you would enclude this
one... Though I hate to admit it, I have to sit and think about things
or my temper gets the best of me. I read the posts on ferrets are bad
pets. I got so mad I was red in the face. I thought about it all day.
Then, I read this morning's post and thought some more as I cleaned
out the over twenty litter boxes in my shelter. I try to stay out of
discussions as I am bias and my husband tells me to think about
everything before I over react. I sat in the back doing litter boxes
and thought about all I have had to replace and what I still have to
replace in my home due to my 43 current ferret residents. My husband
and I have spent over twenty thousand dollars and more on our Victorian
home to restore it and we have spent more having to ferret proof it.
Sometimes I think of what our home looked like before the sheltering
started no poop on the floors and asking people to try not to hit a
missed spot. Now pointing when I go out in public and people
whispering, "Crazy ferret lady," At least I am still a lady, lol. But
now let me tell you what clouded my mind. When my husband was in a
motorcycle wreck and my ferrets were the only comfort I had because I
could not show him how worried I was that he would die or lose his leg.
Or the time when my husband got laid off and I was terrified we should
have to close the shelter because we were running through our savings,
and the ferrets jumped up on me and wouldn't let me cry and feel sorry
for myself. The time last year my dad died and I didn't want to talk
about it and I needed to be needed by someone and a ferret came in that
needed me. These are a few times I needed them. My doctor tells me not
to quit sheltering because it helps with the Sjogren's syndrome that I
have. They give me hope and make me get up in the morning. I have no
time to feel sorry for myself with scooping poop, clean up, and all.

Now, I do agree that a ferret is not the right pet for all people, if
you care more about your things than you do your pet then a ferret is
not the pet for you a stuffed animal might be. I have heard all the
hype about the baby and its fingers but when I went to a home of a five
year old child to pick up a ferret that the kid broke its spine, no
news crew was there. How about when I went and was supposed to pick up
two ferrets and when I got there one was dead in the cage from being
starved and the other kept eating until it would throw up. How about
the time I went to get three ferrets that someone dropped off in a
parking lot and one got hit and died. Or the time when someone drove to
my house over two hours away to give me a ferret that had a stroke and
was having seizures, so I could stay up all night taking care of it
because they didn't have the guts to get it put to sleep. I do not miss
my furniture and things that I have thrown out as much as I miss all
the ferrets that have came through the door and even if they didn't
live long they still got the medical attention, love, and play time
they might have never gotten before. I can look in the mirror at night
and I can honestly say if I lost my house it would not be as bad for me
as to have to close down my shelter. I love my babies, that is what we
call them here, and if you don't then don't come to my house. If you do
come to my house then watch out for ferret droppings.

Thank you, Ann

Ann's Ferret Shelter & Adoption Manchester, Ohio
Ann Church, Director
937.549.1960
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http://annsferretshelter.9f.com/

[Posted in FML 6942]