I may have posted too fast regarding the female in heat.  I talked with the
person who gave her parents my number because she knew I had four ferrets.
I emphasized strongly that ferret breeding is very, very difficult and it
will cost her parents a lot of money in vet bills.  She said they got the
ferrets unspayed, unneutered because her children wanted one and someone
else wanted one and her parents thought they could just get an unspayed
female and mate her and get some and it would be cheaper.
 
Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, excuse me.  Yes, there are ignorant people here in
West Virginia.  I told her the best interest for the ferret would be to
have it spayed now.  It needed to be taken to the vet immediately and then
there was the issue of the other female which needs taken and spayed also.
Someone lied to me about something because the daughter then told me the
other female (which is a daughter to the ferret in heat) was taken to be
bred recently and she didn't know if it took.  OK, why don't they take the
mother there also if they know a hob?  Something is wrong.
 
I realized then and there these people were ignorant and I pleaded with her
I would obtain her children a ferret and the other people one more cheaply
if they would just give up the breeding issue.  She said the ferrets smelled
really bad and she didn't remember my ferrets smelling that way.  I then
told her that they were also descented and the ones her parents were going
to try and breed would need to be descented also in order for them not to
smell.
 
So, here is where it is at.  She is going to talk to her parents and tell
them that the best interest for the ferrets is to have them neutered,
spayed, and descented and to quit trying to breed them because it will cost
more for them in vet bills then just buying them a ferret.
 
I feel so sorry for these ferrets and I want so much to try and stop this
back-door breeding.  Oh, one more thing I told her.  I told her that if
there was back-door breeding going on and the ferrets' lives were in
jeopardy because they didn't know what they were doing the Humane Society
could get them for cruelty to animals.  I told her that only experienced
breeders were allowed to breed ferrets and companies who were licensed
because the animals were so difficult to breed.  I did contact the Humane
Society and if they felt the animal was neglected and not taken to the vet
for treatment they could be cited for cruelty to animals.  I know I probably
stretched the truth a little but maybe they will be so numb not to find out
for themselves and heed my warnings.
 
If anyone else has any more ideas, please let me know!
 
Mindy on a mission in West Virginia
[Posted in FML issue 2251]