Re: Ferret Shelters -- that are NOT Shelters

Today's post caught our attention:

>I have contacted all three shelters via email/web form (as
>applicable) and via telephone at least twice in the past two weeks and
>so far nobody has even acknowledged my contact, let alone actually
>responded to my inquiry.

We, too, are seasoned ferret owners who recently lost an elderly
ferret. Our home usually has 3 to 5 ferret members -- no more than
that—so that we can spend quality time with each ferret, as they are
both our pets and our family members.

We looked first to our local ferret shelters to provide another ferret
a "forever" home. Accessing www.petfinder.com we made an inquiry to a
local ferret shelter -- a consortium of individuals that had recently
posted a dozen or so ferrets at the website as "adoptable." We called,
and after receiving no response from our first phone call after several
days, called again. It took three more days for someone to return our
phone call.

The conversation went something like this, regarding:

Ferret #1: "Oh -- someone else is interested in this ferret." [OK --
No foul here. That does happen. Be it true that every "unowned" ferret
finds a good home. There were at least 10 more ferrets listed on the
shelter's website....]

Ferret #2: "Must be adopted in a pair." [But the photo shows only one
ferret and the blurb discusses only one ferret!?!!]

US: "At the moment we would like to adopt only one ferret, so as to
give him/her our full attention as they adjust to our home and our
other ferrets."
SHELTER: "This ferret met another ferret at the shelter: they are now
bonded. So s/he must go out as a pair."
US: "How long has this ferret been at your Shelter?"
SHELTER: "Two weeks." [Really? REALLY???]

Ferret #3: "This ferret bites and doesn't use the litter box well."
[We've had ferrets for > 10 years, so you're telling me this because?]

Ferret #4: "She might not like your home." [And this you know ----????
The ferret your organization adopted to us over a year ago loves us,
loves his "roommates", loves our home....]

Ferret #5: "I have grown fond of her---so I have to think about it."
[Wha' ?]

The conversation reminded us of The MONTY PYTHON skit called "The
Cheese Shop," in which a Customer (C) enters a cheese shop to purchase
some cheese and is told by the Owner (O) after each request that the
shop either has no cheese, or some lame excuse. It ends with:
C: (deliberately) Have you in fact got any cheese here at all?
O: Yes, sir.
C: Really? (pause)
O: No.-- Not really, sir.
C: You haven't.
O: No sir--- Not a scrap. I was deliberately wasting your time, sir.

The shelter person we spoke to said she would call us back "soon."
It's been four more days. She hasn't.

This shelter person was apparently not willing to part with any of the
ferrets the shelter had listed for adoption. We looked her up on the
Internet: she claims that she "owns" more than a dozen ferrets! This
person is not sheltering ferrets: she is HOARDING ferrets.

We chose to contact this organization first because we were hoping to
support their efforts before looking elsewhere. Shelters are always
complaining about how overburdened they are with ferrets.

Criteria should be set to call an organization a "Shelter." You should
NOT be called a SHELTER, IF:

 Â· You are not adopting out healthy ferrets to qualified individuals.
 Â· You are setting criteria for what is a "qualified individual" that
   even the Pope would not meet.
 Â· You are keeping every other ferret as "your own"
 Â· You own > 10 ferrets
 Â· You think that you can do a better job than anyone else on the
   planet in taking care of ferrets, etc.

If you believe that the ferret(s) you have in your shelter with medical
conditions cannot be adopted out by anyone else, you are a HOSPICE--
not a SHELTER. Advertise yourself as such. Don't waste anyone's time.

It is not clear when or how the ferret shelter system went awry. But
in recent years more stories like ours, and that of prior writer, are
cropping up. As we share our recent experience, we get a sense that
this scenario of many so-called Shelters not adopting out ferrets is
becoming quite commonplace.

There needs to be a system to allow prospective owners to identify
which groups are the REAL SHELETERS from which to adopt ferrets!

Most Sincerely --

A Good Family for a (potential) Shelter Ferret

[Posted in FML 7753]