ANYONE who has corresponded with me through email and/or read my recents
posts about my beloved Sasha or viewed her memorial photos or read my
countless FML posts concerning questions about ferret care KNOWS I am
NOT an irresponsible ferret parent!! I'm no expert but I'm not an
ignorant, dumb, irresponsible pet owner either!!! Whether you choose to
like me or dislike me as person is your perrogative but that *should*
have no bearing toward my overall petcare knowledge and ferret parenting
abilities. My files are overflowing with ferret care information that I
compiled on my own or received from vets and ferret owners or found from
the countless hours I've spent on the internet researching ferret care
and health information throughout the 3+ yrs I've had my furkids! Again
I am not an expert by any means but I DO take great pride in providing
EXCELLENT care for my furkid(s) and I have TONS of love to give to more
of them!
So the purpose of all of this is now to ask . . . . . How do ANY of these
shelters expect to adopt out ferrets if they treat potential owners like
this???? Only (1) of the shelter operators has ever met me in person
previously so the others have absolutely NO IDEA how qualified I am (or
am not) to care for furkids but they should not be assuming the latter
right off, before even giving me the opportunity to explain what I know!
As a result of this experience, I have decided that in order to keep
Snowy from suffering alone if he does in fact want a companion, I have no
other choice than to look for his new buddy in the on-line classifieds
section of my local newspaper and on Craigslist.com and at (God-forbid)
pet stores. (HUGE GASP!)
Despite more than one negative experience with local ferret shelters,
I have remained a strong, vocal advocate of shelter adoptions (vs.
newspaper classifieds and pet store purchases) - UNTIL NOW. This
experience has DEFINITELY changed my mind and opinions about the LOCAL
ferret shelters with which I've had pesonal experiences!
NOW DON'T MISREAD WHAT I'M SAYING please - I don't believe AT ALL that
every shelter operates like those I've encountered locally. And I
completely understand that shelters are very understaffed and the
operators very overworked with little or no shelter income to offset the
rising operational costs - I truly do! But none of that justifies the
negativy, rude, condescending behavior, and extremely poor customer
service that I or anyone else experiences at a shelter.
I WILL continue to support any shelter world-wide (with financial and
product donations) who clearly shows by their actions and words that
they put the furkids' best interests first (by working in harmony with
other shelters) and whose operator(s) and volunteer staff display
professionalism, genuine sincerity, compassion, kindess, and - most of
all - a genuine love for ferrets and a genuine, sincere desire to help
EDUCATE ferret owners, not tear them down! There are MANY, MANY
wonderful ferret shelters out there that I have been in contact with and
have received outstanding support and help from but unfortunately none
are located in Washington (in MY opinion, based on MY personal
experiences).
Regards,
Jennifer and Snowball (heading to *a* pet store for a companion) :-S
[Posted in FML issue 5205]
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