I have an issue with saying no. If it's a dire emergency, and you turn
away a ferret who will die, well....what are you in rescue for?

If you can't afford it, then okay. A good rescue will have contacts in
place for this - they will take the fuzzy in, or direct the people to
who CAN take it in. Networking and being in the know of other shelters,
their openness and limits, is necessary for any shelter who is at
capacity.

Saying no is fine. With so many shelters in the US - many people are
willing to drive out of state and across borders to bring their ferrets
to good homes. If you think that it's crazy to talk to other shelters
in another state, it's not.

I don't believe that a shelter who never says no runs a risk of being a
hoarder. You have to actively get out there and adopt out is all. Or,
you recruit foster homes and people who are willing to do hospice.
Network. The cost is spread out, and the ferrets each get more time
one on one.

As for the taking a ferret out of a kill shelter - often ferrets in
kill shelters are not medically evaluated properly (or at all). Taking
them out is the only way to help them - shelter vets may be great with
dogs and cats, but in my experience, since ferrets are little seen at
many shelters, vets don't even know the basics about insulinoma/adrenal
disease many times. Shelter vets are also overworked, underpaid, and
it's not their job to diagnose as far as quality of life - just
adoptability.

Ferrets should always be taken out of kill-shelters ASAP, then
evaluated. If you have a good network, friends, fosters, hospices, and
know other shelters, even if you don't get along, shelters will help
each other out. It's all about the ferrets...if one can't take them in,
then another will help. If a shelter does not get along with another
for some reason, the first shelter just refers the owners about the
other shelter...problem solved.

I just simply believe that no ferret should ever just be shut out -
and if you know you are at capacity or near it - you work with others
to make sure that ferrets will have somewhere else to go... even if it
does not come to you directly.

Maybe I'm a dreamer but I think there is always a way and always
someone able to help somehow...

L

[Posted in FML 6622]