I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the $7 to $10 per kit price is in
British pounds, which is around $14 to $20 US dollars.  The Cascade Ferret
Network ( http://www.cascade-ferret.org ) doesn't breed ferrets, and so I
can't comment on the cost per kit in the US, but I can comment on the cost
per shelter ferret.
 
These comments are NOT intended as a flame, but simply as data points to
explain the seemingly high adoption fees at shelters.
 
Each CFN shelter ferret is completely brought up to date on their
vaccinations (as many as 3 vaccinations), is spayed or neutered if needed,
and receives a health check from our veterinarian.  During this time, the
CFN must provide food, litter, weekly cage cleaning (complete dump of
litter pan and complete change of all bedding plus cage washing), and time
out in play areas each day (which costs money to outfit the play areas
with clean safe toys, tubes and bedding, plus cleaning costs).
 
We also have costs for our educational handouts, newsletter, brochures,
web page upkeep, gas for transporting ferrets to and from vets, foster
homes, etc.
 
Some ferrets come in with most or all of their vaccinations and recent
health checks, and some come in already neutered or spayed, which saves
the CFN money.
 
Some ferrets come in with medical conditions that need expensive treatments
or surgeries, which costs the CFN money (some times a great deal of money).
 
The average cost to the CFN for each ferret is $75.  Our adoption fee for
a ferret 2 years or younger is $75.  The $75 average does not include the
more expensive medical procedures that the we incur on average once a month
(such as multiple surgeries or intensive care overnight at a vet).  All of
our medical care is provided at discounted rates varying from 10% to 50%,
otherwise our costs would be very high indeed.
 
It's pretty obvious that there isn't a lot of money to be made on any
adoption if the average fee is $75, and our highest adoption fee is $75.
In fact, the CFN relies quite heavily on donations to meet all of our
costs.
 
Leonard Bottleman                  [log in to unmask]
http://www.cascade-ferret.org      http://www.teleport.com/~leonard
[Posted in FML issue 3192]