Sorry I'm a little behind in writing this, just got back from my vacation...
 
MASTIFFS
My sister has a rottweiler and a bull mastiff.  When she visits, we keep
both dogs away from the ferrets, but for two very different reasons.  The
rotty growls, drools and basically lets us know the ferrets would be lunch,
while the mastiff whines and looks so sad.  He wants to go play with his new
friends.  We do let him up to the cages to sniff in a supervised manner.
The on;y reason we do not let the mastiff play with the ferrets is the sheer
size of the animal.  He is a large, lumbering creature, and one wrong step
would mean severe injuries or death to one of my wee ferrets.  I don't feel
the mastiff would ever intentionally injure a ferret or human.  Bull
Mastiffs are known for their tolerance of even the most rambunctiuos
children, and their ability to get on well with other animals.  The only
reason they would not be a good mix with ferrets is their size.
 
INSURANCE
We use Allstate.  Not thrilled with them, but they know about the ferrets
(OK, not all of them, but they never asked how many...) and have never
blinked an eye about it.  According to the agent, they are really only
concerned with dogs and true exotics such as pirannah, rattlesnakes, etc.
 
SHELTERS
The Shelter I work with asks general questions.  We do not ask about a
persons finances, however we do point out that ferrets need regular medical
care, and if they need a surgery or emergency treatment it can get costly.
In certain cases we have not adopted to someone as they obviuosly were not
able to care for themselves at the time.  We have asked that once they were
a little more settled in life (ie not facing eviction, etc.) that they come
back.  Our primary concern is for an appropriate and loving home and proper
care (including vet care).  We also do not require updates, but do require
that if the person must give up the ferret for any reason, that it comes
back to us.  We make it very clear that we are available for questions or
concerns 24 hours a day, and will be happy to board the ferret if they are
going out of town.  We do not breed, do not adopt out whole ferrets and are
entirely supported by adoption fees, boarding fees, and an occaisional
(unsolicited) donation.  Whatever else is needed comes from our own pocket.
 
We do use a lot of "gut instinct".  We had a fellow recently who called
about adopting.  He spoke with me, I was a little leary, then he spoke with
the shelter director who was very leery.  We sent him a questionnaire, and
told him we would get back to him.  A week or so later he called.  He had
bought a ferret from a pet store, decided he didn't want it, and wanted us
to buy it from him for $100!  Call it woman's intuition...
 
We don't catagorically deny adoptions to people with children, however, have
turned down those who wanted to adopt a ferret as a Christmas present for
their three year old, and one who wanted a ferret that his four year old
would be solely responsible for caring for.  It is a case by case basis.
 
One other good one- had a guy call and wanted a ferret.  He had a five year
old.  Also had 90% wolf hybrids.  His last ferret was killed by one of the
"dogs".  Red flags all over the place.  After he told me that his kid was
used to getting bit by animals- 'heck he had 35 stitches after one of the
dogs bit him in the face', I wanted to tell him that he didn't need a
ferret, he needed a psychiatrist!  Needless to say, we didn't adopt to him.
 
-Anne
[Posted in FML issue 2149]