Hello,
 
I usually just skim the fml, as I don't always have time to read it, but
I have been noticing the thread about the giving tree.  While I think this
is a great idea, and it will help to make Christmas a lot merrier for many
ferrets, there is something even better you can do to make a ferret's
Christmas merry.  Most shelters have what they consider "unadoptable"
ferrets, due to things such as age, health, temperament, and such.  In my 3
1/2 years of running the Legion of Superferrets of Nebraska Ferret Shelter,
I learned that even the most unadoptable ferret can be adopted by the right
owner.  While ferret shelters are a great place for ferrets to find refuge
in place of many worse places they can be, a ferret shelter is no place
for a ferret to spend its life at.  Ferret shelter operators make great
sacrifices to take care of shelter ferrets, but they can only spread
themselves so far between so many ferrets.
 
My challenge is this.  This Christmas, make room in your heart and your
home for an "unadoptable" ferret.  Go to your local ferret shelter, and ask
to see the ferrets that have been there over a year, the ferrets that need
constant medical treatment for the rest of their life, the ferrets that
have an "attitude" problem, that need a patient, loving owner to teach
them, the ferrets that are over 6 or 7 years old, that will have a hard
time finding a home.  Ferret shelters are wonderful, but they are nowhere
near what a home can be.  Many ferret shelters will even reduce or waive
an adoption fee for "unadoptable" ferrets to help them better find a home,
although keep in mind, the shelter can definitely use the money.  Now I'm
not saying this would be easy, taking care of a sick ferret can be time
consuming, a ferret that bites is probably better in a home without
children, an older ferret may only have a short time left to live, and it
is never easy to lose a ferret, but the whole spirit of Christmas is
giving.  Make a small sacrifice to let these unadoptable ferrets know what
it is like to be in a home again, loved by their owners, without having to
compete with 30 or 50 other ferrets for attention.
 
Think of your own ferrets.  If something should ever happen to you, and you
couldn't take care of them anymore, would you want them to spend the rest
of their lives in a ferret shelter?  Maybe you have a sick ferret, or a
biter, or an old timer.  Does that mean you love them any less?  If you
want to really give the best Christmas present ever to a shelter ferret,
give them what they want more than anything; a warm, loving home.
 
Shelley Knudsen
Class of 2004  KSU Veterinary College
[log in to unmask]  [log in to unmask]
http://www.tcgcs.com/~ferrets
402-463-0190  785-485-2443
[Posted in FML issue 3262]