Melissa,
 
Since you brought up the subject, I'll put on my asbestos underwear, also!
And being from Houston, Texas I'm also used to the heat.
 
I whole-heartedly agree with your post about finding homes for ferrets.
My concern is when you see an ad or hear of someone wanting to place their
fuzzies followed by $$$ it strikes me like they place their fur-babies in
the same category as a used car, previously owned furniture, you get the
idea.  I can see a token payment to the person placing the ferrets, BUT I
think it ceases to be a token when the 'seller' wants to recoup monies spent
for accessories and even the animals.
 
I have a tendency to feel that many of these suddenly unwanted ferrets are
due to lack of self education prior to purchase and fall into the category
of "Disposable Pets".  I can't help but believe that many owners feel that
if a pet doesn't work out (it grows up, it nips, it gets sick, it makes
noise in the middle of the night, it's destructive) that all they need to
do is place some ads in the paper and sell it, drop it off at the local
shelter, or worse - let it loose on the premise that somebody out there
will find it and take care of it.
 
Chalk it up to 'Instant Gratification - I Want It Now' mentality : " Why
spend all that time learning about the care and needs of a ferret?  It's
cute, and cuddly, it won't be any problem.  What we don't know, we'll learn
as we go." must be the justification.
 
While, on the other hand, in the areas that ferrets are legal, they are
relatively easy to obtain from pet stores.  Most of the sales staff working
in pet stores selling ferrets don't have a clue on a ferret's basic
requirements regarding care, feeding, exercise, medical health, etc.  If
ferrets were suddenly unavailable from pet stores, it would require the
consumer to do a little more work in locating a breeder or shelter to obtain
an animal from.  That might weed out a few impulse buyers.  Those that do
find a breeder or a shelter could hopefully be enlightened on the care a
ferret needs by the breeder or shelter parent, which should weed out a few
more impulse buyers.  The rest of the scenario you can fill in......
 
You see, I don't believe pet stores should sell pets.  Pet stores should
sell supplies, feeder mice, fish - that's it.  If a customer is looking for
a particular pet, the store should have some way to refer the customer to
the breeders or shelters available in the area.
 
This would put an end to surgically altering and selling kits too young,
improper care by unknowledgeable staff, trauma imparted by unsupervised
children, etc.
 
Well, I could go on about this, but I'll get off the soap box to let someone
else continue this subject.  The above is just my humble opinion.  Thanks
for the opportunity to voice it.
 
Cecilia & friends
(woof-woof, winnie, meow, dook-dook, chirp, & whistle)
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
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(Dayton/Liberty, Texas)
[Posted in FML issue 2317]