[Moderator's note: This post was resubmitted -- for unknown reasons, I only
received ONE line of it yesterday!  BIG]
 
Ok, I too have a problem with Mr. Church's generalization that all shelters
are collectors.
 
Please explain what makes a shelter a collector.  Does the fact that the
shelter will work with an abused ferret for months make it a collector?  Or
maybe the fact that there are ferrets that come in that get passed over.
Could it be that when old timers (5 & up) get looked at and passed over
because you cannot guarantee that they will live three or four years?  Or
maybe it is the medically needy ferrets, the ones that take nursing care
that people pass on.  Maybe it is the handicaps, oh everyone loves them,
except when they learn the blind need their play area kept the same so they
can find their way around.  Or is it when a shelter gets 8 incoming ferrets
in one week, and one call for adoption in two months?  Or maybe the ferrets
someone said they would adopt and never made it back to pick up?  Perhaps
it is because shelters try to discourage the "I want it now" syndrome.
Could it be the ferrets that come in sick or needing surgery that we nurse
back to health?  Or maybe the ferrets that get passed over again and again
because they aren't cute enough, or they don't give kisses, or they need
ferret knowledgeable people because of the personalities?  I have two pairs
I would love to adopt, one pair Fred and Sassy - Sassy was raised in a 10
gallon aquarium and is slightly claustrophobic, Fred is a doll but VERY
protective of Sassy.  The other pair, Goofy and Baby.  Baby will follow you
like a puppy dog, Goofy when excited doesn't bottle brush her tail, she
bottle brushes her body, and looks very threatening.  She also has a thing
for trying to pierce lips.  Other than that they are great.
 
They came in neurotic.  They have improved by leaps and bounds, but still
are a little off.
 
I can see it now, a shelter saying, here is a ferret and some money.  The
ferret is slightly off balance, but deal with it or it needs medical care,
or it is old and I don't know how long it will live.  I don't think so.
 
I will adopt out oldsters, handicaps as long as I am sure the adopters can
deal with the problems.  But once you explain some of the short comings, I
usually get a no thank you.
 
Out of a 4 bedroom house, 3 rooms are for the ferrets.  Two rooms and a
quarantine room.  Not to mention how often they are turned out in the first
and second floors of the house.
 
Toys are rotated, tubes, boxes, balls, games created.  Every ferret gets
played with and cuddled.  If that costs sleep, oh well, it is the price I
pay.  And there are more shelters that do the same then not.
 
Please, explain what makes a collector.  How many ferrets?  Now, do these
terms pertain to breeders and individuals or just shelters?  Could the pot
be calling the kettle black?
 
Many people talk about how to make things better for the shelters.  How we
should be doing our jobs.  Don't get me wrong, I would welcome help.  I
would welcome the day I could say, "Hey, all the shelter kids are adopted
or fostered".  But here where I am, fosters don't grow on trees.  In fact
a foster family I had realized they couldn't deal with the fosters, their
ferrets and kids.  I got more ferrets in than that were fostered out!
 
Discussion is great.  But talk is cheap.  I get allot of people who want
to help, and I ask them to take an oldster, or foster one that may have
special needs and they disappear.
 
I will not lie to anyone about the ferrets personality, quirks, medical
needs, or approximate age.  I will not tell a person that ferrets are the
easiest pet to own.  That isn't true.  They give some of the largest
rewards, but there is both positive and negative to them.  A person
adopting should know both.  Sometimes, that will stop an adoption cold
because they don't want to work that hard for a pet.
 
If screening people, and being honest about the ferrets in the shelter
makes me a collector, then I am guilty as charged.
 
Like I said talk is cheap.  If you talk the talk, walk the walk.
 
I tried to get out of the shelter business.  But it was because of people
on the FML, that I ended up being persuaded not to.  All the letters and
notes I got were so supportive, and moving.  I would go in the ferret rooms
and feel guilty.
 
Shelters need your help.  We cannot do what we do without people like all
of you on the FML.  Mr. Church is right, there are good and bad shelters,
but don't generalize.
 
If you want to help, contact you local shelter, offer to foster a handicap,
old timer or a special needs ferret.  Better yet, adopt an old timer.  Make
the old timers life left on this earth wonderful.  The rewards you get in
turn are beyond belief.
 
Remember, shelters are individuals that have chosen to attempt to make a
difference by being there.  Help your local shelter make a difference.
 
Don't criticize, do something.
 
And now I have to get off my soap box.  The ferrets are calling.
 
Hugs to all the fur angels.
 
Jean
Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter
 
PS.  Pam V. you can fit 18 ferrets in that snuggle bag!  It is a little
crowded but they love it.  And the toys all have been claimed.  When the
ferrets that claimed them are adopted, they will take their "treasure"
with them.  THANK YOU!!
[Posted in FML issue 2515]