>Subject: Where can I get a ferret?
 
Monna Maldonado
 
Here I go climbing onto my soap box again.  KITS GET TURNED INTO SHELTERS
TOO!
 
That's how Anola Gay came into my life.  My local pet store had the most
adorable, lovable 6 wk old silver mit kit.  I just fell in love with her.
But with all the unwanted frits being turned into the GDFA, I resolved not
to buy her - the homeless were more important than my having THIS little
girl, & it just broke my heart to see her in that fish tank waiting for the
next impulsive airhead to buy her.
 
About 2 wks later I got a call from a young woman to surrender her ferret.
I know there are legitimate reasons for having to give up a pet, but my
blood boils every time I get one of the usual lame excuses.  She had to give
it up because her parents wouldn't let her keep it.  Because she was 20 yrs
old she figured she could do whatever she wanted - apparently her parents
thought otherwise.
 
As it turned out, she walked in with the same fluff ball I had been
agonizing over for 2 wks.  Anola Gay was 8 wks old then - & she only had her
2 days.  Of course the pet store wouldn't take her back, but at least they
gave her my #.
 
I've had kits turned into me without ever being touched - what a jerk he
was.  Rocks was given up at 1 yr because the kid went back to boarding
school & the mother was petrified of him.  SNAFU & FUBAR both 10 wks old,
were dumped by a 14 yr old kid who was going to turn them loose because they
smelled - sure, they were absolutely filthy from their own waste & crawling
w/fleas.  Tabu was turned into animal control because the kid's step mother
wouldn't let an animal in her house when he went to live w/his father - she
was less than 1 yr.  & Chaos & Tuxedo were dumped outside animal control one
night.  It was obvious they had never been handled - they bit soooo bad.
They're between 1 & 2 yrs.
 
Don't think you have to get a kit either.  The advantage of going to a
shelter is that they know the personality of their fosters & most will
encourage you, if not require you to bring your critter with you.  A pet
store couldn't care less if your Taz gets along with your new kit or not -
most take your $ & couldn't care if they ever see you again (unless of
course you're going to spend more $).  I've had many turned in because of
incompatability.  BTW, generally speaking, if Taz is going to have an
incompatability problem, it will probably be w/another female, even if her
roommate was a girl.  Pet stores don't tell you that either.
 
Consider checking out your local shelter before you decide to buy.  I know
there are at least a half doz in TX, hopefully 1 near you.  These disposable
pets need concerned caring people to take them in & give them the kind of
life they deserve.  Please be one of those people if you can.
 
Juliana Quadrozzi - Georgia Domestic Ferret Association (GDFA)
& all my critters who were once unwanted
 - Frodo, Rocks, Anola Gay, SNAFU, FUBAR, Tabu, Chaos, & Tuxedo
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[Posted in FML issue 1736]