hi all,
 
today (wednesday) i read a post from somebody giving rescue shelters grief
because they don't adopt out ferrets to families with little kids.  it
seems to me that this person is taking this rather personally.  this issue
is not about individual families, if you say your kids dont abuse animals
then i believe you, but resucue centres are not there to service your
desires for a ferret, they are there to ensure that ferrets are re-homed
to families where children are hopefully old enough to know that hurting
animals is not acceptable.  if you say that your kids are supervised that
is all well and good, but who is to say that you are being truthful.  your
kids may be supervised but a shelter does not know that.  rules like that
are put in place for the good of young children as much as for ferrets
because some kids can be a bit exitable and this can lead to injuries to
both the children and the ferrets.
 
in conclusion, this post is not about 'flaming' you, but it is about
educating why rescue centres do what they do.  my ferret was obtained from
a rescue centre here in manchester england and i have become very clse
to the people who run the centre.  they have a no little kids rule and i
fully agree with it.  my daughter is 7 years old and we were able to get
a ferret from them.  if she had been 6 we would have had to wait.  she was
a responsible 6 year old, but the centre did not know that and i respect
them for being cautious.
 
please dont 'flame' resues for their willingness to protect the animals
that they care for, and dont take it personally.
 
thanks for your time.
 
alan & rolo
[Posted in FML issue 3714]