>From:    Alicia K Drakiotes <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: views of shelter adoption
>Instead you too, just compound the problems that ferrets distributed through
>pet shop marketing and dispersed to impulsive buyers, face when they are not
>needed, or wanted anymore.
 
That is an unfair remark.
 
That Larry got the only ferret available under what he considered reasonable
terms does NOT compound the "shelter problem".
 
>I am not making a personal attack on your decision,
 
Sounded like one to me.  You accused him of causing problems for ferrets and
contributing to the homeless ferret population.  Larry has NOT abandoned his
ferrets.  Unless he does he has no effect on the shelter population.
 
>Mr. Tilford stated:
>>Sandi Ackerman... similarly turned us away from ferret adoption.  She
>>wants to inquire about the personal finances of her prospective adoptees
>>to ensure that the ferret will be able to receive surgeries as necessary
>>and other veterinary services.  I consider this a violation of my privacy
>>as well.
 
We strongly object to nosy questions on income.  We don't even tell our
respective siblings how much money we make.  Its not anyone's business
except the IRS.
 
With all of the begging and other fund raising going on from the FerretWise
shelter it sounds like perhaps you would have trouble meeting your own
criteria.  It honestly sounds hypocritical to say "you need to have money to
pay for your ferret" while "we can beg if we want to to provide for ferrets
under our care".
 
>From:    Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: keeping track of ferrets
>Tracking breeding lines over time is the way to get healthy and friendly
>lines and is followed by the best breeders (who also cull lines with
>problems).
 
Wish we knew breeders who actually DID track medical information.  So far
all we've heard from our kits is one case of Juvenile Lymphoma and one case
of a blockage.
 
We LOVE to hear from those who have our kits and we talk to those we've
gottn kits from but we appreciate Larry's desire to do so "if he chose to"
not because he has to.
 
>From:    "Cher R. Clarke" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: A Simple Request
 
We don't want this to be taken negatively.  We are pointing out the
small disagreements but not all the places we do agree.
 
>I understand your point about misuse of the term "defective." I think,
>though, what the breeder-types are saying is not that MF ferrets are
>"defective," (even when they use that word).  What they mean is that these
>ferrets have an arguably high incidence of cancer, and it doesn't have to
>be that way. It's the breeding protocol, not the ferret, that is defective.
 
Sorry.  Some folks are saying the ferrets are defective and they mean it.
 
The breeding protocol is seperately mentioned but most of those attacking it
don't actually understand it.
 
Its also shelter operators NOT breeders that lead the attacks.
 
>What is defective is inbreeding the lines so thoroughly that the animal
>mutates.
 
Mutation has nothing to do with in-breeding.  Mutations happen in EVERY
single birth.  Its a good and normal process.  The vast majority of
mutations actually occur in genetic material that is inert.  The changes in
the sequences end up with no visible (or invisible) changes that can be
detected with out expensive and detailed genetic disection.
 
Mutation has gotten as bad repuation through its use in bad science fiction.
Without mutations ferrets wouldn't exist.  They'd still be polecats.  But
going further polecats wouldn't exist either.  They eveolved through
mutations from some earlier weasel.  Back all the way to the first life in
the primordial soup.  If you don't believe in Darwinistic evolution than
mutations don't exist I guess...
 
>Breeders breed for color, pattern, and temperament.  Responsible breeding
>could in theory weed out the cancerous trait.
 
Only if a genetic component to the cancers can be found.  If they are viral
or environmental than no amount of careful breeding can affect them.  We DO
agree with you that it should be looked for.  If we find poblems in a line
we will cull it.  Luckily so far its only been cataracts and those were
found in lines that hadn't left out home.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2145]