Forgive me gang, I am *way* behind on the FML and personal emails.
 
Someone brought me a ferret that was 3/4 dead Wednesday night and it has
been a 24 hour a day job ever since, just to keep this little boy going and
start him on the road to recovery *finally*!!!!  I will post that story
separately.
 
One thing I wanted to respond to is the post by Lisa..
 
>From:  Ferret Rescue of Tidewater <[log in to unmask]>
>As far as Patricia is concerned I am sure that she is speaking about
>irresponsible breeders, not those that only breed when they have people who
>want a kit already lined up, or those that keep their ferrets in clean, airy
>environments, or those that track their kits through their lifespan, or
>those that when they discover a genetic defect in a particular line,
>neuter/spay the animal; she is referring to those that do not do any of
>this, and I have to say that I agree with her!  I do not breed, but I am not
>anti-breeder; I simply choose not to breed ferrets.
 
Lisa, you are absolutely correct in explaining what I meant (truly devoted
shelter mom's and dad's *do* think alike, don't they :>).  If a breeder
follows all the guidelines you listed, then I have no qualms with that
breeder at all.  However, I have no use for breeders who breed simply for
profit, and/or cut corners on quality of food, conditions, human
interraction, etc., for the sake of saving a few bucks.  If they are not
truly devoted to the lifetime health and happiness of every ferret sold,
well, suffice it to say I cannot call them a 'ferret person', as other
things are more important.  (I could say alot more, but I'd best not get off
on that.)
 
Personally, I would never consider breeding as long as there are shelters
literally overflowing with abandoned, neglected, and needy ferrets.
Unfortunately, I imagine it will be a very long time before this changes.
Every day, ferret farms continue to saturate the market, catering to the
impusle buyer and true animal lover alike :( .
 
>From: Catherine Shaffer <[log in to unmask]>
>I still disagree with the practice of buying "rescue" ferrets.  If you buy
>a ferret for $100 from a rich spoiled brat college student who refuses to
>take responsibility for the beast any longer, you are not rescuing him.  You
>are buying him.
 
As another shelter mom pointed out (tle I think), sometimes these ferrets
are in just as apalling conditions or moreso than ones turned over to
shelters voluntarily.
 
You are right, that it teaches the rich brat nothing, and I wish there were
a way to truly make him/her see that they are shirking *their*
responsiblity, but some things we just can't do much about.  People can only
change themselves, no one else can do it for them.  However, as a FERRET
CARETAKER and DEVOTED FERRET LOVER, it is my obligation to help every ferret
in need that I possibly can.  If I have to shell out money to do this, I
will, and I have.  I have never regretted it.  Asher was living in a shed
with no A/C in the hot summertime, walking on weeks of poop in his cage, no
food in his bowl, and *nothing* else in his cage, no bedding, no hammock or
cloth of any sort to sleep on, and no toys, only an empty food bowl and a
little water, with no human contact or interraction.  Could you walk away
from that?  I couldn't.  So I paid them the $50 they insisted on, and I
could sleep that night knowing he was safe and cool in my house, and was
contentedly sleeping in a clean cage, on a soft bed, with plenty of food in
his belly.
 
Asher is only one of several stories I could relate.  I don't go out looking
for ferrets to buy, I am careful to try to simply educate those who have
ferrets for sale about the importance of proper care for ferrets, then I
give them my phone number and the ferret club number to pass along to the
new owner, so that they have some place to start if they want to learn about
ferrets.  But if I run across a ferret in poor conditions or especially if
one is sick, I will explain the hardships shelters face financially and at
least try to get them to drop the price some, explaining how I screen
adoptors so they can rest easy that if *I* take the ferret it will get an
excellent home.  Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.  Either way I
usully come away with the ferret in need.
 
>Someone else could just as easily have bought him and he would probably be
>just fine.
 
Not always true, in my area, most people have no clue what it takes to care
for a ferret, proper food, proper vet care, ferretproofing, safe toys, etc.,
so if the ferrets at least 'go through' the shelter systems the new owners
get some, if not a very extensive training/education regarding caring for
their new ferret.  If we are lucky we break even on their adoption fees.  So
what is the harm in that?  And likely, ultimately you have saved a life.
(BTW, the lady who brought the ferret to me that was 3/4 dead, has owned
ferrets for 3 years and it took her almost a week to figure out this little
boy was sick.  He had been sick and hardly eating/drinking/pooping at all
for at least that long!!!)
 
Catherine, I am not flaming you at all and I hope you do not take offense at
my statements, I am only offering another point of view.  It is pretty
amazing and often very disheartening to see all that we shelter mom's and
dad's see when we take in a ferret.
 
Trish
Director, Ferrets First Rescue & Shelter
[Posted in FML issue 1805]