Condolences to those with lost, sick, or angeled coffee clutchers...
 
 ...watch lights fade from every brain
 Embattled furbutts sadly lament,
 Another day's FerreTone, lavishly spent...
 
Ok, 'nuff poetry.  But there is a message in my madness!
 
Just a note to all and sundry.  Remember, though you may have come up with
some interesting (and often sad) ideas about what will happen to a furkid
that you happen to see in a pet shop, or at a fair, or listed in the
newspaper, or seen on a bulletin board, you have to understand the
following facts:
 
1) You don't know that anyone that responds will be a bad person.
 
2) People that advertise a ferret for sale with a price and ad "or best
offer" are trying to find a home for the ferret as quickly as possible.
This usually means that the ferret is no longer able to stay where it is
and the quicker if finds a new home, the better.
 
3) Not everyone is a good ferret parent.  Some have more-sensitive noses
than other and can't stand the odor.  Or maybe they don't like poopy
decorations.  Or maybe the fact that the ferret doesn't curl up in their
lap and purr means that they won't be interested.
 
4) Every ferret advertised "for sale" is not a deadly emergency!  You can
pass on the news without having to take blood pressure medication and
hyperventilating!  Most often, your "immediate action required!" message
won't even get out until the next day, so relax, write a good note and
post it.  I promise that BIG will get it in the next FML.
 
5) Not everyone that gives up a ferret (or several) is an evil person.
Many people find that life dishes out a bad turn of events and finding a
new home for the furkids is just the right thing to do.
 
6) *Please* don't jump on the list when you see a ferret for sale
somewhere and tell everyone to rush out and get it, because it looks
lonely...but you can't because you "just can't take in another one because
you already have three." If the ferret is that bad off, take the ferret in
until someone else can adopt it, or until you find tht you really can take
in another ferret.
 
7) If you do spot a ferret in terrible conditions, talk to the store
manager.  If they seem unreceptive, don't get into an argument or
threat-match with them.  Just walk away and contact your local humane
league to see what (if anything) you can do.  Go ahead and write to the
FML, but do the other work first.  Remember, the FML only comes out once
per day, but a phone call can be made immediately.
 
8) Please be a little more tolerant of others that have ferrets.  Many
people don't have large incomes and can only do so much.  However, their
love for there furkids is large and the ferts are generally OK.  Despite
the tendency of several more-vocal personalities on the FML, a ferret
won't die if they don't have sterilized water bottles, spotless and
deodorized cages and specially-ground litter in their litter boxes.
Remember, their distant cousins live with dirt floors, drink muddy water
and have to pick the fur out of their teeth after every meal!
 
Basically, ferrets are great little critters that can survive in
much-worse conditions than most ferret-lovers would like to admit.  Though
I don't advocate living in filthy conditions, it also isn't necessary for
a ferret to live in a hospital, either.  What several people on the FML
would consider unacceptable--or even "horrible" conditions, really isn't
all that bad.  Granted, it may not be ideal, nor might those conditions be
something that the observer would like, but let's face it--no two people
live alike.  What's acceptable to one, is totally unacceptable to the
next.
 
The important thing to remember here, is that the most important issue is
that the ferrets are happy, healthy and enjoying themselves.  They can do
that in a wide variety of conditions, just as humans can, without any
serious side-effects.  Let's all just take a deep breath (no, NOT over
the litter box!) and relax and stop comparing everyone else ot ourselves.
 
NOTE: There *are* exceptions to every situation.  Sometimes, there are
ferrets in hazardous conditions, patently unsafe conditions and some in
down-right dangerous conditions.  Again, I stress--go to the manager.  If
you can't get satisfaction there, call your local humane league.  Don't
wait for someone else on the FML to do this for you.  Just call
1-800-HelpAFert (check your local phone book for the proper listing in
*your* area!) and get the ball rolling.  Letting us know on the FML is
fine, but *you* are there, so take the initiative.
 
Todd and the Fuzzbutt Rodeo Clowns!
---
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[Posted in FML issue 3686]