I have sent this on at the request of a sister shelkter so you all can see
what we see on a daily basis... a gentle request to all the readers --
please do not buy a ferret because it is cute, because it is inexpensive--
ONLY because you want a companion for it's entire lifetime, thanks.
 
 
"The Fate of the $59 Ferret"
 
A ferret at the pet store for $59.?  That's great, I think I will pick one
up too!
 
This is an all too common problem here in SW New Hampshire.  As the pet
store orders direct from Marshall Farms they are required to order in groups
of 24 or more.  This is a bulk shipment and monthly orders are required to
keep getting them from the ferret mill directly.  This of course means that
in the summer while everyone is out having great fun, and the shelters are
full of the ferrets no one could stay home to watch, the pet store
accumulates kits that grow older.  Then they are available at a reduced
price-- even at $59 each!
 
So, what happens to the $59 ferret?  Well, youngsters who have summer jobs
or allowances find they can afford a ferret.  Perhaps they cannot afford the
care the ferret deserves nor the housing amenities required, but they can
afford the ferret and they take them home.  To face their parents and
whatever lies ahead.
 
I guess that is how we got "Roxie" we decided to call her that because she
was found not far from Roxbury Road.  "Roxie" was reported to the shelter
this holiday weekend as a stray.  The van was fired up with carrier and crew
and off it rolled to gather a lost little ferret.  When the shelter Dad got
there he found in this very rural neighborhood that the little ferret had
been found on the previous day trying to get water from an outside faucet.
The home owner put out a hav a hart trap and secured the little one, a
neighbor stopped by and told him he had a ferret, he then placed it in his
bathroom with a dish of water.
 
The shelter finally got a call at about 1 PM on Sunday.  "I have a ferret
here, it was found wandering outside yesterday, are you going to come get
it?" Certainly we will be right there and there we were looking at a
beautiful child whose fate might have been more tragic if not for a
compassionate property owner.
 
As shelter Dad was collecting the little one he was then alerted that there
was a litter box and blanket, puzzled he began questioning and he was told
that upon learning the ferret was contained by the landowner, the neighbor
went for a walk in the woods and lo and behold -- a high sided litter box
almost brand new with a little litter in it , a new baby quilt and the
remnant of a cut down box of Marshall's ferret food were located.  The
ferret had not been a stray, it had been deliberately placed into the
woods -- abandoned -- for who knows exactly what reason.
 
The ferret a young sable sprite, yes two blue tattoos in her ear may be
16-20 weeks of age.  She of course requires all shots and will be monitored
for several days prior to receiving those shots and a microchip ( in the
hopes she will never be lost again).  Shelter folks guess it is quite
possibly another $59 ferret.  What a buy!!!-- perhaps next month they'll
take two!
 
Alica, the shelter Mom
Ferret Wise Shelter
Marlborough, NH
 
<----  End Forwarded Message  ---->
[Posted in FML issue 1683]