Hi to all fellow ferret owners.  I just wanted to add to the notes on
ferrets and the military.  My husband and I got our first ferret when we
were stationed in FL.  At that time we were off-base and chose to stay
off-base during that tour 1) for the ferret(s) 2) too crowded on that
particular base and we didn't like the setup and 3) we didn't take the
time to fight to get them on.
 
When we moved to our second base we immediately got paperwork together as
well as other information to get our "family" on-base.  Most bases are
willing to work with you if you take the time to find out who you need to
talk to and what paperwork is needed and also be persistent!  As we all
know it always takes paperwork to get something done in the military.  We
also found out that the restrictions of ferrets on base are based on a
precedent (not sure if that is the correct word to use) that was set many
years ago and hasn't been updated.  It may take all of us that are
affiliated with the military to band together and get them to review this
and get it changed I have a feeling.  I've seen dogs and cats that do 100x
more damage to houses.  Matter of fact, I've never seen where a ferret has
done any damage--they are gentle, easy going animals and spend time in
their cages while we aren't home and are supervised when out------ unlike
most dogs/cats that are often left to whatever unsupervised.
 
We are now currently in Japan and fought to get our second ferret over here
and we are on base also.  We have lost our second little one in July and
are currently in contact with the Japan Ferret Association to possibly
adopt.  I feel that shelters do need to be picky in who they adopt to.  I
have no problem with that.  But I can tell you one thing----I told my
husband if my little one didn't get to go to Japan he was on his own-----
so it can be done!  There are some overseas locations that have extremely
long quarantine periods and most without you having contact with your
ferret(s) and the little fuzzies just wouldn't survive---these are tough
situations, but most people in that case would try to have family or
friends to watch their little one during those times instead of sheltering
them (that would be so hard).
 
So, to all those ferret lovers out there who are associated with the
military---take some time and get the contacts and fight for the rights
to have your "family" with you.  It's well worth it and if we show how
responsible we are and fight for it then maybe we can make a change occur.
 
All the best
[Posted in FML issue 3210]