Happy New Year Fellow Fuzzbean Owners!
Hope this posting finds everyone enjoying the New Year!  My ferrets are
doing thankfully well.  Sabrina, who I wrote about a couple of months ago,
had an abcess in the back of her throat.  That was taken out, and the vet
was pleased that it was not a tumor.  Sabrina did very well with the
surgery.  The abcess is trying to come back, but now that we know what it
is, Dr. Zippay wants to treat it medically.  We're now on Cefa-Drops, .25ml,
2x's a day for 14 days.
 
Ferret math struck my house over the holidays!  The cutest little cinnamon
boy came into my life.  And, atleast for me, he answered the question about
if lap ferrets are made or are born that way, he's a lap fert from the
get-go.  He looks around the house for me so he can crawl up and sleep on
me.  I can be on the pooter, wrapping presents,or cleaning, no matter .  He
just makes himself at home, and falls asleep.  I was trying to dry my hair
the other day, he was sleeping in my sweater, and quite indignant that I was
moving my arms around so much!!
 
Had the opportunity to meet 'Mo Bob over the holidays.  He's a walking fert
encylopedia!  No wonder we reference him when we have a problem!  And no
matter what you hear to the contrary, he's a nice guy too!
 
Ran into Jodi with Starfire Ferrets in Harrisburg, Pa.  She had 5 rescues
that came to her from NYC.  All nice,young ferts.  The panda was looking at
me with those big eyes....She's got them up for adoption if anyone's
looking...
 
Regarding the discussion on rescue.  I've been involved in animal rescue for
the last 7 years, although on a smaller scale right now.  I've never rescued
ferrets, but I think what I've seen and experienced probably applies to any
type of animal.  Money can be involved at different steps of a rescue.  If
the original owner can upfront some money to have the animal vetted, even if
the shots are current (which they usually aren't), an exam for parasites and
an overall health base line is done to protect other animals already in the
system.  Monies that come from the original owner can also defray costs in
maintaining that animal in rescue, remembering that: a) rescues are no-kill
and b) some animals may turn out to be unadoptable.  That literally means
some animals will spend the rest of their life in rescue.
 
Is it rescuing an animal when it has to be 'bought' out of its current
situation?  Absolutely!  Remember, the person in the situation may determine
that circumstances are so bad, they'll do anything to get the animals out of
it!  The times when people buy-out backyard breeders to stop the problem is
a rescue.  The breeder doesn't think there's a problem, so why would they
'donate' their animals to rescue?  It's usually a source of income for them,
and they look at it strictly in a monetary sense.  So what if some of the
young die each litter, or the parents have health problems.  Typically this
type of breeder doesn't see past the day they sell the animal to the pet
shop or end user.  I live in one of the top puppy-mill states in this
country, (PA), and see this type of thinking on a regular basis.
 
Once in the rescue system, monies come from donations or fund-raising
efforts.  The posting from Rose, President, LOS PA Chapter in the Digest of
Dec 30-31, does an excellent job of explaining what goes into a rescue, from
in-take to adoption.  It also shows a person how much time and work goes
into rescue.  Actually working with the animals leave little time for
fund-raising....
 
And then money can come back into the picture at the time of adoption.
Charging for an adoption is a necessary fact.  It's what's called 'perceived
value' in sales terms.  Certainly you want an adoption to be taken
seriously, and people are never more serious than when it comes to their
money.  They need to make a financial commitment as a first step.  The only
animal I've ever seen come back into our rescue was one that we let go out
with a written agreement that the adoption fee would be paid at the end of
the month, in an effort to help their finances.  The fee was never paid, and
the animal came back to rescue 8 months later.
 
Animal rescue is hard work.  There is no profit in it for anyone involved.
Quite the contrary, most rescues have to dig into their own personal pockets
when the need arises.  It costs money to rescue animals, and the reality is
that it has to come from somewhere.  Donations, adoption fees, fund-raising,
whatever, it's what makes it financially possible for animal rescues to
happen.
 
Well, that's my perspective. Thanks for listening! And thanks to all of you
on the FML for sharing of yourselves and your fuzzbeans this past year! Your
insights, the funny escapades, the sad stories...I read them and laughed and
cried with you in 1996. I look forward to many happy times with my babies in
'97 and I wish you the same!
 
Penny
[Posted in FML issue 1801]