I happen to know the shelter and the lady who cares for the ferrets.  She
is overcrowded, frequently tries to send ferret to shelters that don't have
so many so they *can* be adopted, gets precious little help from most, and
is finally saying to people when she can no longer take any in *so she can
care for the ones there*.
 
And while she usually has at least a couple ferrets that have just come
from or about to go to surgury/vet for various problems that do look sad
and down, (most ferrets that just had surgury certainly aren't perky right
away!), and there are a few others that are sad that have lost lifelong
friends, the vast majority of the ferrets in her care seem quite happy.
She mixes and socializes everyone she can, so even if she has to spend time
caring for the sick ones, they have playmates (one group has a *lot* of
playmates), she plays with the ones she has to run singly, as well as with
the groups.
 
And yes, she has quite a few sick ones, *but* I would say her major problem
are the HEALTHY ones that NO ONE wants because they're over the age of two!
I've heard the same thing about other shelters...that many have
"unadoptables" that are *only* unadoptable because most folks looking to
adopt in that area aren't interested in anything not kit age.
 
And it does seem to be regional...there are shelters that can't keep
ferrets in no matter what the age, and it certainly isn't the case in that
area!  If *those* ferrets could be adopted then there would be more room
for the incoming, and more financial support for the ill.  And that goes
for any shelter.
 
I'm not even going to touch the issue of killing ferrets because of
adrenal, insulinoma, or other illnesses...I'll only say that this shelter
doesn't take extrodinary means to keep ferrets alive, "just" the usual meds
and surguries that the kids need for their health.  The adrenal I adopted a
couple of years ago wasn't expected to live long, but she not only lived
another year and a half, but was incredibly happy the entire time.  She was
tottering around the house dooking and trying to war dance up to 15 mintues
before she passed away in my arms.  She certainly didn't deserve to die
because she had adrenal.
 
*All* of us have limited resources in one way or another.  Is there
something else we can do?  Perhaps...when talking to people about ferrets,
and adopting from shelters, tell folks, especially first time owners, the
advantages of a somewhat older ferret.  Perhaps there would be fewer
ferrets ending up in the shelter if folks learned about them by *first*
owning one that could be matched to their lifestyle...which I believe most
shelter folk try to do...as well as being able to learn the peculiaralities
(is that a word) of ferretdom while not having to try and learn *also* how
to teach kits what is appropriate and what is not.  Certainly kits can and
do do perfectly well with first time owners, and older ferrets don't do
well in some homes.  But the "older" (two and up) ferrets are often just as
fun, have often already been litter trained, taught not to chew on cords,
are through that kit nippy stage (or have been taught not to bite by
dedicated shelter folk), and certainly need homes as well.  We can
certainly do our part by talking about these advantages of an older ferret
when the question of "where do I get one" comes up, even when we can't
take another fuzzy in, donate any more time or money, and generally feel
frustrated with the whole situation.
 
Dooks.
 
Sue
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2771]