I agree with Deanna.  It is terrible that some people are irresponsible
enough to get pets and not care for them properly.  This is a major problem
not only with ferrets but also with dogs and especially cats.  I work at a
vet clinic and I have seen many a wonderful, sweet kitties dumped off--
sometimes quite litterally, left by the dumpster in the parking lot.  Just
this year I adopted a cat from an extremely irresponsible person I knew who
refused to get him neutered, threw him outside w/o any shots because they
got sick of him spraying, and the poor cat of course got a bite wound on his
face which abcessed, and since he didn't have his rabies he is now in
quarrantine for a year.
 
But although this type of behavior is deplorable in a person which
undertakes the responsibility of pet ownership, I think it would have been
better for this person to have given the cat to someone who would have cared
for it properly BEFORE it had to go through the pain of the above
experience.  Of course, it goes without saying that it would have been
preferable that they not get a cat in the first place if they were not going
to care for it, but which is the lesser of two evil, to keep the animal and
have it neglected, or to give it away, hopefully to a home where it will be
well loved and maintained?
 
And there are always circumstances which can arise in life.  I myself would
probably give away children before ferrets (which is why i'm not planning on
having any children!!:) ), but sometimes things just do not work out.
Personally I would rather see someone give their ferrets to someone on the
list or adopt them out through a shelter than neglect them and/or set them
free to die.  *T.
[Posted in FML issue 2087]