Hi FML,
 
Oh dear, yes, Bob!  Let's discuss and debate how to find good permanent
homes for ferrets!  If we all kick out ideas about how we screen and
advertise and choose, perhaps we'll help each other solve this problem.
 
I think the "exchange" from over-crowded shelters to "ferret-needy"
communities is a terrific idea.  And already I've got a new idea, from
Sara Petersen's post . . . It never occured to me to get references about
animal care from a person's veterinarian!  Very cool idea, thank you, Sara.
 
So here's what I do to find homes: I put up posters at grocery stores,
the library, and other places.  I don't advertise the actual ferrets
themselves, only that I'm looking for potential adoptors and foster
parents, and I advertise free "ferret parenting" classes.  (Haven't got a
single bite on that one yet, though).  The "nice" pet store in the area
knows about me and puts up my posters, gives out my literature on ferret
care, and hands out my business cards.  Now and again when a "lost" ferret
is turned in to me, I put a "found" ad in the paper asking that the owner
contact "company of ferrets shelter" and that's got me a few phone calls.
I haven't yet actually run an ad about the shelter itself yet, and will not
do it so close to Christmas.  We all know our shelter population might rise
come January and February when the excitement of those Christmas ferrets
wears off .  .  .
 
I take my ferrets out in public and hand out literature and my business
cards.
 
The problem is all these things seem to bring more ferrets TO me than help
me find homes for them.  :-(
 
And I try to match ferrets to people.  The dog-hating ferret should
probably go to a home that doesn't contain dogs.  A ferret with a 30%
litter box hit rate should not go home with a "neat freak" kind of person.
We know ferrets can be a pain in the butt sometimes--admit it.  Some people
can adapt to either putting up gates or having their furniture destroyed,
and some people can't.  I try to weed out the ones that won't be able to
adapt to ferret life.  I don't do this by refusing to adopt to them, I do
it though conversation about what ferrets are really like.  I list
negatives first, not last, and after that talk about how fun, and cute, and
what a joy it is to have ferrets.  If people can stomach the "down side"
then they're ready to hear the good side.
 
Heres what I don't do:
 
I don't put up posters on the college campuses because too many of my
shelter kids have come from college students in the first place.  It's
shelter policy not to adopt to college students as their lives are in
constant transition, and constant transition often causes people to give
up their ferrets.
 
It's also shelter policy not to adopt to people with children under 5
UNLESS they've had ferrets before.  But we also like to know what happened
to those 'previous' ferrets, to get an idea of how they were taken care of.
 
I also never considered for a moment adopting ferrets to the guy who called
and asked if I would trade him a ferret for a 3 year old iguana.  What do I
know about iguanas?  This: If he could not give the iguana a life-long
comittment, who's to say he'd give a ferret a life-long comittment?
 
Anyone, anyone?  Let's try to help each other.  I've adopted to all the
ferret people I know.  Now I've got to go into the scary territory of
people I don't know.  How do I find them?  How do I screen them?  When is
picky too picky?
 
Sheri M.
in the Company of Ferrets North
Superior, WI  (715) 395-9435
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[Posted in FML issue 2514]