Looks like we have a mini-Fredonia situation on our hands here.
 
It all started innocently enough last week, with a call based on an ad in
the paper.  Said they had young female ferrets for only $35.  So I gave them
a call, identified myself as being with a ferret shelter, and asked the guy
about his ferrets.  He says he has 2 that are less than a year, 2 that are
about 1 and a half, plus an older male and female.  "Are they neutered?" I
ask.  No he says.  "Oh...do you breed them?" No, but he is planning to.
"Yikes" I think.
 
I try to proceed carefully.  "Well, I'd like to be sure that people who buy
ferrets from you are educated on how to take care of them, like knowing that
females need to be spayed or they will get sick and die." No they won't.
Then followed an couple of exchanges in which the man denied significant
risk to unspayed females.  "Well it could happen, but spayed ones can get
infections too," he argued.  Well the conversation ended pretty quickly
after that.
 
Now what do we do?  I worried.  What if this guy doesn't know squat about
ferrets and is going to kill jills and babies left and right?  Or sell them
to naive purchasers who will feed them dog food?  We could send Bev, but she
would probably tell the guy he was an idiot and beat him 3 ways til next
Sunday if she found anything she didn't like.  So I discussed it with my
husband, and we decided to go undercover.
 
Not that way, this is a family list!
 
Introducing: Ace Richard, Pet Detective!
 
After waiting a few days, Richard called looking for a non-allergic pet for
his daughter, and made an appointment for last night. I decided it would be
better if I stayed home, and paced the floor til he returned.
 
Turns out things weren't as bad as we feared.  The guy has lots of
experience raising and showing other animals (pigeons, rabbits, guinea pigs,
horses, etc).  (He probably resented some humane society type woman (me)
acting like she knew more than he did.) The ferrets were in a barn, but
fairly well housed.  They were used to being handled and seemed healthy.
 
And the best news, well at least for us, is that one of the ferrets got loose
and killed two of his show pigeons. He decided not to breed them and is
selling out.
 
Richard will call him back tonight, and make an appointment for Friday.
He'll have a wad of cash in his pocket, I'll have extra in mine, and we'll
see what it takes to buy him out.
 
Bev is standing by with spare cages.  The vet has been alerted that he will
get lots of spaying practice.
 
Stayed tuned for the next episode of Operation Oberlin, with special guest
star Ace Richard, Pet Detective.
 
Linda Iroff
North Coast Ferret Shelter
Serving Northeast Ohio
http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html
[Posted in FML issue 1739]