I guess I will jump into the fray......
 
In regards to the "no transportation, not enough income", I have to tell
you a story about Russell and his ferret Miles.
 
Russell works construction - and lives in a teeny 1 room boarding house
(maybe 300 square feet).  In one room was his bath, his bedroom, his den,
he shared a kitchen with 4 other rooms.....I met Russell when he needed
someone to care for his ferret for a couple weeks while he worked a site
in North Carolina....he had no car, and walked, bummed rides or rode the
transit buses to get around.  Russell found a vet less than a mile from his
home and that vet treated Miles for the assorted stuff - vaccinations, ear
mites, etc.  Miles was eating purina kitten chow - but was a happy loving
ferret.  Russell needed no leash for Miles - he followed wherever his
master went.
 
Our next meeting was through his mother - Russell had a brush with the law
and of course, Miles was with him - Miles went to ferret jail for the night
(Va beach animal control) and his mom brought him to our house the next
day.  We kept him for about 3 weeks, until Russell got out of jail.
Russell sent money to his mom to pay for Miles' food, and care.  Every
week, she stopped by to see the ferret and drop off the money.
 
We would periodically see or hear from him - and then he called about a
problem with Miles breathing (Miles was 6 1/2).  I could tell that he was
hoping he didn't need to get him to a vet, but the more we talked, the more
he realized that it was probably pretty bad.  He promised to take Miles to
the vet the next day (it was 10pm when he called) and I believed him.  Two
weeks later Russell called again - Miles had died of heart problems- could
I come and get his cage?  He couldn't bear to look at it.
 
While we were there, we heard more stories of what Miles and Russell had
done together....he gave us his cage and the medicines that Miles was
taking....Russell may not have had a lot of money - but he has a good
heart - and did what was best for his little buddy....if he were to want
to adopt a ferret from me, I would do that with no reservations about at
all.  He was a responsible pet owner - and you don't get that from being
'well-off'.  I wish there were more people like Russell out there.
 
Lisa, Head Ferret
The Ferret Haven "By-the-Sea"
http: www.ferrethaven.org
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[Posted in FML issue 2854]