>From:    Jon Stewart <[log in to unmask]>
>I have been weighing the consequences buying a ferret, and so far I have
>come up with a negative conclusion.... Are ferrets really worth all of the
>effort, and money you need to invest?
 
Please forgive if I answer your question of "Are ferrets really worth all of
the effort, and money you need to invest?" with another question.  That
being, is any animal worth all of the effort, and money you need to invest?
 
Yes, you have vet bills, grooming bills, and food bills, but according the
the Pet care industry we humans spend billions of dollars a year on our
pets.  Dogs and cats are still the number one choices when it comes to pets,
but the cost for them is just as high.  Especially the long hair varieties.
You say they have tremendous health risks and complications and yes they do.
But...have you never heard of feline leukemia, distemper, parvo, or heart
worms, just to name a few?
 
Again, yes to your statment of, "they are not legal in California," nor
Hawaii and a lot of counties, and even towns outlaw them.  And it is ashame
that ferret owners must live in fear far deeper than any drug dealer on the
streets of LA.  Drugs are illegal in every state, county, and city, yet
these vermine sell their poison to our children on street corners as if they
were 7/11 stores, while ferret owners live in curtain drawn prisons
terrified by a knock at the door.  The differance being, a drug dealer can
be out of jail and back out on the street within a few hours.  For a ferret
it is a death sentance.  Literally!!!
 
Still again, what price can be placed on a love that is so unconditional?  A
ferret, or any animal for that matter, does not care if their
master/mistress is rich or poor, live in a studio apt.  or castle, just as
long as the hand that touches them is soft and tender and the voice is
gentle and warm.  That there is food when they hunger and water when they
thurst.  Ferrets return that love, with sock theft, hours of hilarious
frolic and clowning, happy little dooks and eyes that could melt a North
Pole iceburg in January.
 
All I can say is, let your heart be your guide.  Ferrets are not for
everyone and if you feel they are to much trouble then by all means, Don't
get one.  We ferret lovers will take them and give them the love, attention
and tend to their needs which is rightly their due as one of God's little
creature.
 
Sandy
Fizzgig (Hey, mommy said those raisins were for both of us!)
Benny 'Da weasel' Gambini (Go way, kid yaz bodder me!)
[Posted in FML issue 1842]