Posts on the process to adopt a shelter ferret have made me wonder.  Given
the finite capacity of shelters and the increase of ferret sales, it seems
as though the supply of surrendered ferrets could exceed the capacity to
accommodate.  The stringent screening process could work against the purpose
of shelters.  They need to adopt ferrets out.  I understand and agree with
the desire for a shelter to find new owners that can provide proper care.
However, given that shelter ferrets may have health or behavioral problems,
and are likely to be older, what makes them a better option than the
alternatives?  One alternative that people have is to buy a cute young kit
from a pet store with no questions asked or time delay.  Why (other than
compassion) would somebody want to go through the extra ordeal of adopting
from a shelter?  People do act primarily out of self interest, and instant
gratification is a trend.
 
Some of the application processes described are similar to a limited
background security clearance investigation (I have a TS, so I've passed
tougher).  Is this done even for somebody that already has ferrets and can
demonstrate reasonable knowledge or is the process modified?  I could see
this putting people off.  The counter argument is that this weeds out
undesirables, but I think it can produce too many false negatives.  I
probably would not pass because I wouldn't want the intrusion.  I am guilty
of many things, but being a bad owner to my ferrets is not among my sins.
 
False negatives in a system can be as much of a problem as false positives.
The adoption process tries to limit false positives, but what does it do to
reduce the false negative?  Our legal system prefers the latter to the
former.  There is a fine balance to be struck, but has this been exceeded?
 This could encourage people to go to places that don't provide information
or any screening and defeat just what these shelters want to achieve, and
even add to the stream of incoming ferrets.   If a person wants a ferret,
they will get one, one way or another.  This is a society of competitive
advantage.  What gives a shelter the competitive edge?  (Please don't
respond that we should just eliminate these other sources, that is not a
practical or desirable answer.)
 
One problem with computers is that they obey strict rules and make decisions
on a hard digital basis (yes/no).  Our world works more on shades of gray.
 Fuzzy logic and neural nets are ways that the engineers are trying to
correct computers.  Is there a way to qualify and educate adoptive owners
without such a hard decision structure?  I don't want to propagate the HSUS
concept of "only special people" in our own processes.
 
   ( )--(a)
   (@=@=) \     Till next time.......Rudy the ferlosopher
   O__)  \ \___
      \   \       "I never expected the Spanish Inquisition."
      /\ * )  \       Monty Python
[Posted in FML issue 1254]