Ed Lipinski writes:
>One should learn from the keepers of dog and cats.  There are 135 different
>"races" of dogs and some "37" different "races" of cats.  The dog and
>cat breeders are constantly breeding their critters for specific
>characteristics, health, stamina, resourcefullness, and longevity.  What
>are the vast majority of ferret keepers doing?  Nothing.
 
Others have responded eloquently in the past to other ideas in Mr.
Lipinski's most recent post, so I will concentrate on the above paragraph.
There is so much wrong with these few sentences it is hard to know where to
begin.
 
Let's start with the last part.  What the vast majority of dog and cat
owners who don't bother to get their animal fixed are doing is creating
millions of unwanted dogs and cats who end up in shelters and are euthanized
every year.  This unnecessary slaughter is not something we should want to
emulate.  One thing that MF and other large ferret breeders are doing right
is making sure the pet industry mostly sells altered ferrets only (though
I'm not happy about the age and conditions under which the altering takes
place).  Breeding MORE ferrets does not mean breeding BETTER ferrets.
 
Breeding should be left to those with a knowledge of ferrets and genetics,
and a love for ferrets, not to any miscellaneous ferret owner who wants
their kids to experience "the miracle of birth".  Good breeders (of any
species) are very selective about which animals they choose to breed.  The
majority of offspring are removed from the gene pool.
 
In our past, we may have bred dogs and cats for specific purposes, such as
dogs for hunting and working with particular animals, guarding against
particular predators, etc.  But in recent decades, the emphasis for both
dogs and cats often seems to be unusual features, the more bizarre the
better.  As a result, we see dogs and cats with noses so pushed in they can
scarcely breathe and are subject to dental problems, who have backs so long
or short they can scarcely walk properly, and a variety of other health
problems that result directly from breeding for "desired" features.
 
Again, the ferret community seems to do it better.  Ferret shows do not
place an emphasis on extremes in ferret conformation.  There are no ferret
breeds or "races" as Mr. Lipinski call them.  Instead the emphasis is on
general health, grooming and balanced conformation.  Again, let's not
emulate the dog and cat community by breeding for exotic looks only.  I
don't NEED or WANT a ferret as big as a German shepherd!
 
Linda Iroff
North Coast Ferret Shelter West
"The Raisin Retreat"
Oberlin, Ohio
http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html
[Posted in FML issue 2394]