Well here we go again, another thing to get all steamed up about and flame
everyone that does not agree.  I lurk more than reply but here goes my first
and maybe my last big one on Kit sales at ferret shows....
 
Ok, maybe we should eliminate the sale of ferrets everywhere...after all
there are way to many of them out there and we need to keep them exclusive -
right?  Hum, how can we do that?  First, let's get rid of Marshal Farms,
Path Valley and Hagen and any other big breeders.  After all, they are like
puppy mills.  Zap... they're history.  Next, no more ferrets at pet stores,
heaven forbid a pet store would sell any animal.  Zap - they're history...
Let's get rid of all those backyard breeders - what do they know.  Don't
educate-eliminate - Zap..  They're gone.  Now, let's stop all ferret sales
by breeders and shelters at the ferret shows... Zap... No more.  After all,
why would anyone traveling long distances to come to a ferret show want to
buy a ferret.  They only come to socialize with the people?  Right?  They
don't come to see all the championship ferrets, all the different colors,
patterns and quality breeding.  Gee, if they can get a Marshall Farms ferret
at the pet store down the street, why travel several hundred miles to buy a
ferret?  And heaven forbid that breeders from other states buy and sell
among themselves... They just might keep the bloodlines from intermingling.
 
Good grief, why would any breeder travel hundreds of miles to show their
ferrets and not be able to sell some of their kits on occasion?  And the
idea of breeders getting together before or after a show..  Gee when?  The
evening before when they get to the hotel late after driving all day....or
before they give all their ferrets their baths..or before a show when they
are in line at 7:00 am.  Or maybe after the show after spending 12 hours or
more on your feet running around keeping track of who is being shown when.
The only time you have is the time in between the time you spend talking to
the many friends you haven't seen since the last show along with the many
visitors asking so many questions.  Most of us don't bring all our kits to
sell, just some.  A lot of us do comunicate before the shows and ask
breeders to bring specific kits.  And, yes a lot of my kits are promised
before they are even old enough to sell.  I look forward to seeing and
talking to other breeders about what they have to offer and checking out
their bloodlines.  I am more comfortable with the idea of selling to someone
that has paid and/or traveled a distance to come to a ferret show than an
impulse buy from a pet store.  Most of the ferrets I sell have been to
people that already own 1 or more.  I really don't believe shows are where
most of the impulse buying goes on.  Most of the people at ferret shows are
ferret people!  And I do try and educate my buyers.  I hand out literature
and keep records.  Where else can you get such a wealth of information as
that shared by all the breeders and ferret owners at ferret shows.  Every
time I go to a show I learn something new.
 
I have to admit that I am uncomfortable with breeders that come to ferret
shows just to sell ferrets and are NOT to showing them.  I do feel they are
out to make a buck and not necessarily out to improve the breed.  Maybe it
should be a condition that you MUST have ferrets entered in the show to be
allowed to purchase a kit permit to sell kits at a show.  With the exception
being a shelter and those ferrets would all be fixed rescues.  Heaven knows,
I don't breed ferrets to make money.  I breed with the idea that I will get
one or two kits out of a litter that I will keep and show.  I sure as heck
can't keep all of them much as I would love to.  It's heck parting with my
babies that most have been born in my bedroom with me attending, that I
watched grow from a squeaking slug with a tail into an entity with their own
color/pattern and personality.
 
Whew.... enough of that soap box.  I will probably get flamed but I have
been mostly lurking on the FML for over a year and this really irked me.
Am I crazy or what...must be the ferret fumes.  I have to concur with Bill
Killian.  In the last 2 years I have been subscribing, I don't remember
anything Bill has said that I don't agree with.  He has always tried to look
at both sides.  Bill is a wonderfull judge and his knowledge of ferrets is
only exceded by his hair (Sorry Bill - couldn't help it-I like your long
hair!) Kudos also to Sheena of the Wherret Ferrets and the Amy & Derek.
 
Dooks and Raisins to all...
 
Scarlett and the many Happy Dookers
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[Posted in FML issue 2221]