I wanted to say a few things here. But before I do, I need to say that
I highly, highly respect Barb Clay and all she has given to these
animals over the years. I respect her opinions and beliefs. I have
learned much for him. Her contribution to her local community and to
mass rescues is immeasurable.

But I am also irritated. Let me explain why. Ardith is a dear, dear
friend of mine. She came here to her close friends, fellow rescuers,
and ferret community to talk about something others do not understand.
She needed to be "heard". She needed to be supported and emphasized
with. I have to be honest with you, Barb, I really felt like you had
a message that you were burning to tell and were bottling up and so
therefore you pounced on the first message you found that might be
remotely related to it to send that out. I really feel it was an
inappropriate way to do it. I felt like it was almost a political
thing to do. You know ironically, Ardiths post did not support Barbs
position. What happened with that incident might actually support the
sanctuary position. Anyway, I feel like my friend was in essence used.

I wish you had instead began a new thread, and you might have even
started it off relating back to Ardith's incident if you had liked. It
was actually quite a brilliant post. This subject has to be the single
most hotly debated issues in our community. This makes the raw vs
kibble food debate look like a two year olds fight. It's one that has
gone round and round over the years and has yielded very little good.
That is because rarely do people state their positions as eloquently
as Barb just did. If everyone talked about it in that manner, ya know
what? We'd get somewhere. We'd learn more about each others views on
the subject, have more think about, and possibly might come to some
constructive conclusions or best yet ... common ground.

Despite the fact that it seems like nothing good has yet to come from
debating this issue, I feel like we still must try now and then. Why?
Because it's the elephant in the room. Because we know very little
about it from not talking about it, and the lack of information will
inevitably hurt these tiny little creatures we seek to protect.

I guess the cat is out of the bag so to speak. In the near future, my
column will highlight a sanctuary owner, Cathy Strobach. I have sought
to touch upon this topic for two years. But I had to wait for when it
was appropriate (in this case to spotlight little Bisquits misadventure
and how Cathy helped him), and I had to make sure that who I was
holding up as a responsible model for the concept had an top notch
facility. The opportunity is here, and I am very excited about that.

I am too late for one thing, however. I am absolutely devasted beyond
words that our dear Rebecca McFarlane passed away before this article
was to be published. She was to be honored as well. She was to
represent the majority of sanctuaries that are run in secret as opposed
to Cathy who does not. Yes, the McFarlanes ran a sanctuary. She ran
it alone. She financed it alone. She suffered through the trials and
tribulations that all rescuers go through ... totally alone. She also
was a good example of how a sanctuary could be run "right". Members of
the IFC have seen the McFarlane home in the past as well as many others
reliable ferret people and vouched very positively about it, so much
so I don't think a day went by that Rebs' friends and SOS did not
encourage her to at the very least claim a 503 status, let alone call
it a sanctuary/shelter. She would not. She thought of shelter operators
as movie stars. Stars that she thought she was not worthy of walking
among. She said that all she did was take in old and sickly ferrets to
take loads off of other rescuers and to take in local strays and throw
aways. They were her babies. Because they were her "kids", she felt
like she was getting all of the benefit out of the situation and so she
would not take credit for that. However, she was very supportive of the
sanctuary idea. She was very supportive to those who did what she did,
in secret. She VERY open minded to the idea that not all ferrets are
fit for adoption nor were all ferrets fit to live in a sanctuary
setting.

Here is where we get into my heartfelt belief. If we don't discuss
this openly. If we don't discuss it with great restraint. And if we
don't take it a step further into opening our minds even if we are
100% against something, do you know what we will continue to have?
Collectors. We will also have those who are doing GOOD but have to
suffer or stop doing what they are doing from the strain and stress of
secrecy. The more open we are, the more good people like Cathy Strobach
and Reb will be open and come forward and continue with their work. The
more open we are, the more we'll find and see those struggling and who
are not doing good and hurting these beautiful little animals. It's a
win-win situation. Bashing this practice will only make it harder to
find those people that quite frankly, need to be found.

The ferret community is unique from all other animal communities in
many ways. One of those is that I feel we police ourselves much better
than any other group. Let me tell ya, if you have more than a "few"
ferrets, you're gonna hear a knockin' at your door. It might not be
today. But it will be someday. Come on, admit it ... even when you
visit another ferret persons home for personal reasons and for
friendship, you can't tell me that at the very back of your mind and
that you aren't thinking, "and this will be good because on top of
meeting this person like I've always wanted to, I can make sure they
are not some nut that is horribly mistreating their ferrets".

Barb might be seeing more sanctuaries from her vantage point. But from
mine, she is wrong. There are no more sanctuaries than there were. In
fact, as an outsider whom many people confide in, not only do I think
it's the same, but it could be less. It feels like more, because more
people are coming out in the open a bit. Also we've been policing
things a lot more as we have more and more forums, so they are outed
more. It's a dark secret that there are sanctuaries. It's a taboo
subject. I wish we'd take an ax to it, personally. People are always
going to do what Reb and many more do. People are always going to
collect. Lets make them feel comfortable so they come out of the
closet. This way we can support those who are truly helping, we can
educate those who are faltering, and we can shut down those who are
hurting the animals. With the talk, we can also get to the bottom of
the heart of the matter here. Is it in the best interest of all ferrets
to be bounced around and rehomed? Is it worse to bounce them around
yet once again after adjusting to multi ferret home, or is it worse
to house them in crowded situation and deny them the intimacy of home
ownership? WE DON'T KNOW. I repeat, WE DON'T KNOW. So before anyone
says it's a black and white thing, lets keep this topic open. Lets
learn, research, and think it through. This will not be settled in
days, nor weeks, but years.

I don't want to see the sick situations that the dog world has quite
frankly. Far too many accepted "sanctuaries" that are just institutions
like those run for humans so many generations ago holding young,
healthy, adjusted dogs who would do better in a loving home. But I also
don't want to see what they are doing in their shelters either! I see
dogs going insane, spinning in circles because they are living in a
shelter situations their whole entire lives because they really are
unadoptable. All do to the unrealistic hopes of the shelter operators.
I'd rather see those animals in a proper, spacious sanctuary type of
home or euthanized quite frankly. In both cases, the animals loose due
to stubbornness.

I will say no more about it myself. Why? Because all I do know about
this subject, is that "we do not know the scientific facts about this
subject yet". I know that I need to keep an open mind that someday we
might find it to be unhealthy to keep ferrets in crowded homes. I know
that some day I might find out for a fact that they are better off
not being adopted out in many cases. I know that people like Barb are
irreplaceable. I know that people like Cathy are as well. The hundreds
of animals that have come through their doors, would otherwise have
been dead. That's all I know.

Wolfy

[Posted in FML 5729]