>From:    Patricia Curtis <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Flying Fuzzies/ Marshall Farms/Maynard's illness
>A few end up in happy homes with folks willing to learn and provide
>properly for them.  Many get passed around from one lousy ferret owner to
>another.  Some wind up at shelters, and these are often the *lucky* ones.
>Many...well, you really don't want to know what happens to those :( The
>number of ferrets that go through shelters IS STAGGERING!!
 
For the average year, the number of ferrets that are in shelters is very
small compared to the 5-8 million ferrets that are estimated to be in the
United States alone.  This year however, the numbers of ferrets in shelters
appears to be much higher than normal in some regions.  Here in the
Mid-Atlantic states, the majority of shelters are full.  This is due in
large part to the fact that at least 3-4 shelters in these states have shut
down.  The ferrets in these shelters were absorbed by other shelters, which
in turned led to the higher number in the shelters here.  The numbers of
ferrets are about the same; there are just fewer shelters taking them in.
We have been talking to shelters in the western areas and are finding they
have long waiting lists for shelter ferrets and very few ferrets to file the
demand.  Troy Lynn has the right idea in trying to develop a system for
moving the ferrets from the full shelters to those where there is plenty of
space, and in fact a demand for the little guys.
 
For you statistics fans: Marshall Farms (only one of many ranches in the
country) sold almost 83,000 ferrets in a single year.  Over 225 every single
day counting weekends and holidays.
<http://www.acmeferret.com/voice/ferabuse.htm>
 
The largest shelters in the country typically take in about 100 ferrets a
year.  Some have claimed "crisis" and stopped taking them in at 8 or less.
Some don't really take in ferrets at all.  The AFA web site for ferret
shelters lists 111 shelters in the US (and 2 in Canada).  There may be some
not listed as well.  <http://www.ferret.org/afashltr.htm>
 
We'll take the 10% research ferrets off from Marshall's shipments to get
still 74,626 ferrets sold as pets (at least).  If we let the average number
of ferrets in a shelter be as many as 50 and use the 111 shelters listed by
the AFA we have only 5,550 shelters ferrets in a year.  Divide by days (365)
and we get only 15 shelter ferrets a day.  If we use a conservative average
life span of 4 years we only get 4 ferrets per age year per day.  The life
span average is probably more so the number may be lower.  Compare that to
the 204 pet ferrets per day from Marshall Farms alone.  Less than 2% of
ferrets are likely to ever see a shelter.  Knowing that quite often these
ferrets that come in are returns to the shelters its probably even less.
 
So this still boils down to the fact that we we have a distribution problem
with ferrets not a overpopulation problem.
 
We do need to support shelters and remember them as a source of ferrets.
 
They are quite often the correct source but not always.  As acknowledgement
of the crowded shelters, the more responsible breeders in this area cut back
on breeding this past year, falsing more jills than they bred for example.
 
We are also finding that there are shelters out there which are not listed
by any of the ferret organizations.  Anyone who has information about
unknown or unlisted shelters, or if you are running an unknown or unlisted
shelter, please send e-mail to [log in to unmask] and [log in to unmask] and let
them know about these shelters so they can be added to the lists.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1752]