Hi everyone!
 
Little ferret "spotting": in The Paper Chase (about first year law
students), Professor Kingsfield asks for volunteers to discuss a case.
When no one does, he says "very well.  I shall have to ferret you out."
Pretty funny.
 
On to more serious matters....
 
>>Far too minority numbers end up this way, make no mistake of that.
>How do you know?  You didn't say "it appears" or "we think".  You are
>stating this as a fact.  What is your source?  We suspect you haven't
>polled the 180,000 new ferret owning households.
 
Have to agree with the Killians on this one.  The post they refer to indeed
seemed charged emotionally.  It is perfectly fine to be passionate about
ferrets, but we must not let the passion take over our best judgment.  I had
to doubt accuracy of the "statistics" by the way they were presented.  It
certainly is a fact that ferrets will be abandoned.  Just as cats, dogs and
others are abandoned everyday.  However, it is unreasonable in my opinion to
blame breeders, as it is also unreasonable to blame pet stores, breeders and
even shelters customers for the rate of return/abandonment, whatever that
figure may be.
 
To me, this is akin to saying that we have a duty to limit, even regulate,
the adquisition of ferrets.  That we must educate the public first, and then
evaluate the individuals for knowledge and competence before allowing a
sale.  What next, the issuing of "licenses to ferret" (not in the revenue
generating sense, that is)?  While aiming at educating the public is
commendable idea, everything that follows is certainly not the way to go.
Restricting access to ferrets do nothing towards our other goals of
presenting ferrets as normal company animals, but would rather foster the
idea that ferrets are exotic animals.
 
In my opinion, is is more desirable to allow access to ferrets to all those
that desire to puchase one, even if it means that impulse purchases will
take place.  And if 1, 5, 10% of them end up back in the store or at a
shelter, so be it.  It is conceivable that the remaining 90% will be adopted
by other owners.  My own Fudge was over 6 months old when I purchased him at
a store.  And I certainly am not ashamed of where I purchased him.  And yes,
the previous owner made a serious mistake: he/she will never know what a
great ferret is.  His/her loss.  Now I haveanother ferret.  Yes, I wish I
had been able to get another older one, from a shelter for instance.
Indeed, I posted several messages on this list to offer to relieve a shelter
from one.  Unfortunately, there are no shelter in the panhandle area, that I
know of.  And I looked alright, and I informed the local animal control of
my willingness to take on abandoned ferrets.  My vet was also told.  In the
end, I went to the same store that Fudge came from.  In a world as depicted
in the post, I would have been deprived of my two wonderful ferrets.  Others
would be too.  That just wouldn't do.  Enough from me for now...
 
Antonio, Fudge and Poulette.
[Posted in FML issue 2219]