I run a shelter.  I would much prefer people get ferrets from a shelter
than from a pet store.  But I can understand why they often go there.
 
1. Not everyone can find a shelter near them.  Ferret shelters are not
listed in phone books and they don't all have internet access and web
pages/email addresses, and they certainly don't have the resources to
advertise heavily.
 
2. Not everone HAS a shelter near them.  I've heard from people who tell
me the nearest shelter is 200 miles away, or even further.  And then they
call the shelter and are told there are no adoptable ferrets.
 
3. There are some shelters _I_ wouldn't adopt from. In any business, there
are good operators and bad operators, the shelter business is no exception.
 
4. There is a strong appeal to getting a kit, but you can repeat the above
3 substituting "breeder" for "shelter".
 
Pam Troutman's survey of ferret ownership a couple years ago showed that
most people get their first ferret from a pet store.  Like it or not, that
is where people first see, learn about, and fall in love with ferrets.  If
all pet store sales of ferrets were to stop tomorrow, the biggest result
would be that far fewer people would know the joy of ferret ownership.
 
Not this is not to say I support all pet shops. See #3 and substitute "pet
store". I would love to see all store owners and employees educated in the
proper care of ferrets, and see them educate their customers the same way. I
would love it if the suppliers to pet stores would not take kits from their
moms at such early ages and alter them before their eyes are even open.
 
But I don't think we are a strong or organized enough market force to win
this battle by boycott.  We will win it instead one store, one chain, one
farm at a time, by gentle persuasion and persistence.  We must convince them
it is in their best interest to better care for the animals in their stores,
to better educate their own employees and customers, to give their kits a
healthier start on life.
 
Let me repeat that: Gentle persuasion and persistence.
 
By the way, in this area, stopping pet shop sales would not eliminate my
business.  Because there is a large ferret farm in Ohio, there are lots of
backyard breeders.  and we get in a good number of unaltered ferrets.  I
would imagine that might increase if backyard breeders no longer had
competition from the pet shops.
 
Linda Iroff
North Coast Ferret Shelter West
"The Raisin Retreat"
Oberlin, Ohio
http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html
[Posted in FML issue 2410]