>This is the AFA list of shelters in Virginia:
> ...
>Just to clarify, the following do not breed as far as I know:
> ...
>     The Ferrets of Pet Pals - Referral Service
 
I stopped breeding operations last Fall.  My last two kits are headed to
the vet today to be neutered (they are just 6 months), despite two breeders
begging me to keep my black sable intact for a season or two (his brother
took best kit at the AFA show in December).
 
Another breeder in Virginia also stopped breeding last Fall.  What we have
found is this - we like the males better neutered!  I visited a breeder
friend in MD last week and could smell the hobs from outside the front door.
Not that it was bad, but believe me, I don't miss the musk.
 
I've never had a problem with small breeders who keep the cages clean,
maintain no crosses in their blood lines, and sell the kits with a
spay/neuter clause attached.  The shelters are over crowded because of
backyard breeders who get reported for filthy environments and are forced
to give their animals up.  The shelters are crowded because of cancers and
illness that could be avoided with good breeding practices and common sense.
The shelters are crowded because breeders fail to make sure their kits are
neutered on time and people breed because they think they can make a fast
buck.
 
In my shelter career I have taken in several pregnant ferrets and needed to
know the basics of breeding to help them along.  I wanted to see if German
blood lines improved the life of American ferrets.  I'm now in the analysis
stage - sending out surveys to the people who bought my kits to see how they
are doing.  I also bred a lot of American to American ferrets, and have
asked for information on those as well.  Maybe by Springtime I'll be able to
look back on my breeding stretch and say just how I and the ferrets have
done.
 
The REAL problem, IMHO, in the ferret shelter system, are the pet shops who
sell a ferret to anyone who has the money (and maybe not the education or
common sense) to buy one.  There are LOTS of people who buy from pet shops
who are wonderful owners.  I'm just glad the ferrets are already neutered at
time of sale, because if you think there is a shelter problem now (and I
really don't think there is, just some shelters won't let other shelters
help with the overload), then imagine what the shelter load would be if kits
were sold intact like kittens and puppies are......
 
Pam Troutman / The Ferrets of Pet Pals / STAR*
[Posted in FML issue 2179]