Now I *know* I'm not the only one to be upset by the Fischers' post
yesterday.... You all know me, I DO NOT flame, but this is borderline...I'm
steaming....
 
Pardon me, but can *anyone* else on the FML say that they will never support
a shelter, that rescues are a "dirty word", and that they feel that shelters
should be shut down???  Anyone????
 
And what the hell did *I* do?  Now, before you try to say that your comments
were not directed to ME, they were, as *I* run a shelter and you want to
shut us all down.  Am I overpopulated?  NO.  Many of us are NOT, and have
plenty of room (and a waiting list of adoptive parties).  Besides, what is
so wrong with a shelter?  Ferrets that reside in my shelter stay here as
short or as long a time as they need to to be placed in the most loving home
that they can be.  And until they are, they cannot want for a better home, I
guarantee you that.  They are treated as my very own ferrets, so I do not
understand why you feel that shelters are so bad.  If you were talking about
clinical, cold, kennel-type shelters like the SPCA, I might understand.  I
know of NO ferret shelter that is not run out of the operator's home, where
the ferrets are given the most love and compassion they have ever seen.  In
my experience, my shelter is quite often the very best place the ferret has
ever landed in their lives, that is until I place them in a home that is
completely suited for their needs.
 
In your words:
"As far as I am concerned, "ferret shelter" has become a dirty word in this
household.  And I make this promise to all existing operators.  Do not
expect any help, financial or otherwise, from me.  And in addition, be aware
that I will do everything in my power to keep helpless and needful ferrets
out of the existing system.  As I have already implied, this currant system
exists only to boost the egos of the operators."
 
Excuse me again?!?!  Why would you want to keep ferrets out of the shelter
system?  You'd rather they be in the homes of idiots that have no clue how
to care for them?  And when they get tired of ignoring the ferret, instead
of calling a shelter, who will take the time and care to educate and place
the ferret in a stable home, you'd rather they place an ad in the bargain
sheet so that some other hick can buy the ferret and not take care of it?
You think it doesn't happen?  You should hear the story of Bino, the most
recent ferret we took in, this shelter is the fifth (and FINAL) place this
ferret has landed....and he's THREE MONTHS OLD.  I cannot understand how you
can not realize how much time, and care we put into running our shelters.
 
Egos?  Oh, yeah.  Try running a shelter.  Try crying every time you see
something more horrible than the last ferret you took in.  Try feeling what
it's like to know that if only the jerk that surrendered his ferret two
months earlier than he did, maybe his ferret could have survived rather than
die from the cancer pulsing through the ferret's tiny body.  Try doing
everything you can to help a depressed, sickly ferret understand why his
owner chose to surrender him the very same week that his cagemate died.  Try
taking in a ferret that has been kept in a home where for the past year, the
ferret was left out of the cage to run maybe a dozen times, and the cage was
cleaned even fewer times.  Oh, yeah, that gives you a really great warm and
fuzzy feeling inside.  It's nice to know we do help some, many...but the
feeling is hardly a boosted ego, it's relief.
 
The saddest part about your entire post is that I was actually *on your
side*--about the fact that the ferrets should be placed in homes (assuming
you took the time to make sure they were GOOD homes) nearby rather than out
of the country-- until you went off on your horribly misguided tangent.  You
obviously have no idea what a ferret rescue/shelter is, because you could
never criticize what we do.  There simply is nothing, NOTHING, selfish,
improper, or cruel about what we do.
 
And if you go through with your threat to take your misguided feelings to
the press, you certainly do not care about ferrets first.  Because if you
were to cause even one person to refuse to take their unwanted ferret to a
ferret shelter, it could very well cost that one ferret its life.  Is that
something you want on your conscience?
 
FMLers, sorry that you get to see a rare inflamed side of me.  But people
who speak about things that they can't possibly know about, especially when
it attacks ME personally, cannot be ignored.
 
Kymberlie Becker Barone
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady
[Posted in FML issue 2176]