Guess the anonymous poster that wrote about an excess of ferrets in this
country was afraid of reprisals.  There sure won't be any from shelters.
We have all come to the same conclusion, sad as it is, there are too many
ferrets.  I tremble at the thought of a State as large as California
legalizing them.  Seems like so many people are fighting to make that
come about but it will be a disaster for ferrets.  There will be so many
purchased on impulse and then dumped, just as they are every day at our
doorstep.  We used to just get the old and sick ones, those that were no
longer wanted when they had medical bills and nursing needs.  Now it is
not unusual to get ferrets under a year of age, and I am no longer
surprised by the occasional one purchased just a week ago; "Oh, I didn't
realize they poop on the carpet!".  There's an internet site called
something like "13 reasons NOT to buy a ferret".  If this were posted in
a pet store, they would never sell another ferret.  And yet, it is nothing
more than realistic and something every ferret owner finds out in the first
week of buying a ferret.  It won't be long before ferret shelters are in
the same boat as those for cats and dogs; overflowing with animals and
unable to find even mediocre homes.  My standards are high, and I can no
longer find really good homes.  I have to wait until a ferret dies at one
the few good homes on my list and then quickly call to fill the "vacancy".
I no longer take in healthy ferrets or I would have 100 by the end of the
week.  I only take sick ones and emergency placements ('take this ferret
now or I'm turning it loose....').  For the others, I give owners detailed
instructions on finding a home (advertising and careful screening of
callers), and I do my own telephone screening (never as good as visiting,
but then there are the 55 sick ones to care for at the shelter) and
exchange numbers between people who wish to "dump" a ferret and people I
hope will be good to an unwanted ferret.  I don't think the anonymous
poster had to be afraid of any disagreement; just look at all the posts
on the Digest for ferrets needing homes.  I don't see hardly any from
someone looking to adopt, because, frankly, once the word gets out, you
will have a dozen knocking at your door.  There is one sure way to stem
the tide and that is to close down Marshall Farms.  Not only do they
overproduce, but I will take full responsibility for my conviction that
they are unbelievably cruel in their production and shipping methods and
that in the breeding process, produce inherently defective animals that
have less than a 50-50 chance of living beyond the age of 5 years.
 
Ferret Rescue in Colorado Springs
[Posted in FML issue 3436]