I have to speak here -- I am in Louisiana and a board member of the
Humane Society of NW Louisiana which has no ties to the HSUS. Many dogs
that are in the shelters or that are surrendered to us can be due to
moving and things of that nature, but not all of it. There have been
many times when dogs were surrendered due to "I want a younger dog
now" -- as for the ferrets, since I do the ferrets and bunnies -- I get
calls from the local shelters and from the people themselves as they no
longer want it or they are moving and it isn't fair to the ferret and
all sorts of reasons. Yes they are all neutered of course. And I took
in 15 from the DMK rescue. So not all surrenders are for really valid
reasons if you ask me such as "I want a younger dog/cat now." Sorry
if I sound a tad harsh but it is the truth -- that is the way a lot of
people do their animals. When I receive a ferret(s) in I ask where
they got it to begin with and how old is it and all sorts of questions
including why they are surrendering it. Granted I got started with the
ferrets when Hurricane Katrina hit since I already had ferrets and the
HSNWLA asked me if I would take them in and my answer was of course, we
had quite a few surrendered to us as they knew it would be quite a time
before they would be able to get them back and they didn't think it
would be fair to the ferrets. So we actually do get them for reasons
that aren't that good or valid -- not just the ferrets, I'm including
all animals.

Nancy in Louisiana

[Posted in FML 5842]