One of last night's messages was very upsetting, taking people to task for
buying pet shop ferrets instead of getting them from a shelter.
 
Where do you think shelter ferrets come from - the far side of the moon?
Most ferrets in a shelter were not born/raised there, they got loose or
were turned in by the original purchaser.
 
Some of us grew up with moralistic expressions regularly pitched at us.
Suffering builds character, tough times make you stronger, nothing that
comes easy is appreciated.  Ok, I have built lots of charcater, I'm
internally strong, and I deeply appreciate what I have.  Well great, all
that stuff I resented hearing as a child worked to my benefit.
 
These are ferrets for heavens sakes!  Their little lives are short enough
without having to suffer or go through tough times.  Why are some people
espousing the theory that ferrets must not be purchased from a pet shop
by us, the knowledgeble, but instead must first suffer by being dangled
at the end of their harness by some 9 year old kid, be used as training
bait to see if the family pooch has any hunting instincts, left without
food/water for hours, stepped on, smacked, etc., etc.
 
This thinking is absurd.  Baby ferrets deserve loving compassionate homes.
They do not need to first go to some jerk who may give it 24 hours in a
holding cell for misbehaving, then drop it off at one of our shelters.
Haven't you been reading about the condition many ferrets are in when
they come into shelters?
 
I'd like to hear from all the people who read this and take a baby home
from a pet store BEFORE is has to do the suffering, character building
thing.  And as for the rest of you - fluff on you!
 
Georgia - the left coast one...
[Posted in FML issue 2410]