well, I see where most of the blame is put on those two organization
for our over population but the real blame is the people buying them.
They aren't educated on what it takes to take care of them and thus
they see this cute little comical thing and want it only to learn later
the . If anything should be done it is either to price the ferrets so
high that most buying them at first sight will think twice or research
it AND get either of them to produce a paper or booklet the people have
to read and sign before they are allowed to buy a ferret. Lets face
it, there is a "market" out there for ferrets. As long as people keep
buying them, they are going to keep selling/breeding them which is a
product. Petco is pushing people more towards rescues to adopt from
than selling as their markup is not so much on the ferrets as in the
merchandise that goes with them. Marshalls sometimes can't even keep
up with the demand for them, I've been told by a couple of stores with
their bins empty they have ferrets on back order even going to Path
Valley or Triple F to get them when MF can't produce. I really don't
know what the answer is, I just know it is a problem and placing the
blame on that source is not reality. Especially when I get calls of
ferrets that are 4 or 5, even 7 years old, where people want to turn
them in. That has nothing to do with how many Petco and MF are putting
out there, they aren't wanting more ferrets, just tired of having them
period. That is ownership, the lack of real love, the mentality of the
public, the treating of animals as if they are a decorative piece of
furniture. Then again, putting a higher price on them won't make some
think twice before investing that kind of money or keeping some from
being turned in - I have seen even $3,000 English Bulldogs at the
animal shelters from owner surrenders, overload of Labs and Cockers
that as puppies sold for $300 to $500. It is not just the ferrets that
are being overproduced and being bought on impulse, its consumers being
the problem. If there is no market, there is no "Product" worth keeping
in stock. If there is a market, then look what happens. If you put
restriction on sellers, then you have back yard breeders keeping them
in horrid condition and selling the kits off them with no medical
protection. And backyard breeders aren't going to get them fixed and
descented and sell them at a cheaper price, it cost an arm and a leg
to get that done. I've known some vets that charge $450 to descent and
$250 up to spay or neuter. The farms have vets on hand to do it. Very
few consumers in comparison would want a ferret that wasn't fixed and
descented due to the smell. IF you put a restriction on the breeders
they can't till the ferrets are 6 months old, they won't and will sell
as is and then there is the danger of whole ferrets out there, males
stinking and giving ferrets a bad name and females suffering a horrid
death because the owners won't spend that kind of money to have them
fixed.
Bottom line, true more ferrets come from farms and more are sold by
Petco than any other chain but its not as much their fault as it is
the consumer who buys and then dumps them whether it is right when
they get them or when they reach old age.
Millie Sanders at Txferretrescue.org
with Texas Ferret Lovers Rescue and
connecting Foster homes and sanctuaries
[Posted in FML 7990]
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