Just some thoughts on recent postings:
 
The ferret community is divided into three categories of people:
1-casual owners
2-breeders
3-rescue/shelters
 
Casual owners don't get involved with the issues. They just want
to own their pet with no fuss.
 
Breeders are interested in producing ferrets and selling them. No
one says that they don't love them too, but they are being
produced and sold as livestock for profit.
 
Shelters look at each animal that comes in as a person, with
rights to health and happiness, rights to a life without abuse or
suffering.
 
A full 90% of the animals received by all the shelters in the
LIFE system come from pet shops where they are impulse purchases.
Most of those are MF and at least they are spay/neutered. The
whole animals are the products of local breeders who have no
contracts and do not actively spay/neuter. The shelters must
shoulder the responsibility of fixing these animals, because
shelters do not adopt out whole animals, unless they are too
young, in which case they have strict spay/neuter contracts to be
fulfilled by the time the ferret reaches a certain age. These
kind of contracts are enforceable in small claims court.
 
The Humane Society of the United States, as also I believe
American Humane, do not support any kind of breeding of anything
in this country. In Europe, where they don't have the kind of
irresponsible ownership and acquisition of animals that we do in
this country, they have strict guidelines that thankfully the
majority of Europeans follow - that being one litter per year,
and in most species--after three litters--spay. That is a very
simplified distillation of their complex breeding directives, but
I applaud the thought behind it. Nature is not Nature when
altered by humans. In the wild, harsh conditions and lack of food
etc. would keep an animal from coming into heat at an
inappropriate time. It is well documented that an animal that is
continually bred gets "worn out" at an early age. What kind of
quality of life can there possibly be when continually going
through such tremendous bodily changes as pregnancy? I think any
woman who has had children can attest to the fact that it has
taken some of her youth and vigor each time, and she is never
really the same.
 
We have recently published a special report on ferret mills in
the Independent Voice. Anyone wishing to receive this can let me
know by private e-mail. I do not believe it is appropriate to
load into this forum.
 
IMO, anyone with 40 or 50 ferrets is either an animal collector,
a ferret mill, or a shelter who should be actively trying to
adopt animals out.
 
I do not intend to get drawn into further discussion of this
subject on this forum.  I also think that private messages should
be respected and kept to private discussions -- which I would be
glad to engage in.
 
Ann Davis, Project BREED, Breed-Specific Rescue Directory,
National Ferret Coordinator
[Posted in FML issue 1016]