I've been reading with interest the discussions going on recently regarding
shelters.  Our society, as I've heard a few others mention, uses a
fostering system to care for its rescued ferrets.  Although this works well
for us it does pose its own set of problems and difficulties.  I'm not
going to discuss those right now though as I have another concern which has
been nagging at me.
 
Not so long ago we got a call from a woman who had visited and purchased a
couple of female ferrets from a small independently owned pet store.  She
tells us that on the way out the door she was told that there was a good
chance that the ferrets were pregnant.  We decided to drop into this pet
store to check it out and to introduce ourselves.  We were very careful to
approach them in a friendly and helpful way and so were able to glean that
the store had purchased a dozen females from an auction.  All of them
unspayed and all of them in heat.  We're told they were breed with a
resident male ferret which lives in the store (sigh).  At the time we were
there, only one female remained which means that there could be a number of
pregnant female ferrets out there with people who probably don't have a
clue what to do.
 
Now that in itself is a concern to us but its still not the one thats been
nagging at me.  When we first heard about this I called the SPCA and
inquired as to what regulations there were regarding the sale of animals in
pet stores.  Surprise, (not!) there aren't any regulations other than the
basic food/water and adequate housing rules.  I asked them, did they know
that an unspayed female ferret was at a great risk of becoming anemic and
dying if left in heat?  No, they said, they didn't know that!  Was there
anything they could do I asked?  No, they said, there are no regulations
against the sale of unspayed ferrets, or any animal for that matter, in pet
stores.  This is what concerns me.  Even the owners of the pet store in
question did not know that an unspayed female ferret could die if allowed
to remain in heat.
 
So my question is....do you think its possible to get a regulation or
legislation passed to stop the sale of unspayed female ferrets in pet
stores?   If so, how would one go about this.  Would you do it at a local
or provincial level?
 
Is this a loose/loose situation?  I'm not happy that kits are being
spayed/neutered at such a young age but to for me its even worse knowing
that pet stores are selling unspayed ferrets especially when they
themselves have no idea that by doing so they are condemning the ferrets to
death.
 
Barb Gustafson (aka Boots)
Alberta Ferret Society
President
 
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[Posted in FML issue 2520]