Question: IS any shelter actually calling employers or is that just a rumor? It seems to me to be an extreme action. Just a case in point (our's) of people having differing abilities to manage money. Steve and I live modestly -- very much so even now since we have family we help. We barely qualified for our 30 year mortgage when we got it (with the bank working from how "standard" people manage money rather than from our past record) and certainly never would have qualified if we hadn't already saved a good bundle as a very large down-payment. (In Northern European nations people wait on lists for better housing while in ones organized like the States for home purchases we wait while we save to have enough of a down-payment -- everyone waits.) Anyway, partly by having some raises and partly because of an investment we'd had finished up, but mostly just from increasing our penny-pinching we were able to pay off the mortgage -- for which we'd just barely qualified -- in 6 and 1/2 years (saving more in interest not lost over the full 30 years than our home is worth). ***Money is what you what you make of it; that's why we have a weekly budget book.*** There are a LOT of ways many people can scrimp, and that money can then be redirected to vet care and other ferret essentials as needed. This isn't to say that there are not times when a shelter person has no real choice but to refuse adoption (and some will sometimes then offer fostering in which the shelter covers medical costs at a specific vet but the person covers all daily concerns). Certainly when a shelter person is afraid for the animal's well-being then that adoption or foster absolutely should NOT be made. Still, I do think that calling employers is extreme IF it is being done by anyone and I think that shelters need to be reasonable -- otherwise they become "collectors" calling themselves "shelters". Those things said there's also responsibility at the home end -- for the person who wants ferrets in his or her life, including to carefully SAVE because daily and vet care do get expensive. IN the last two months just on vet care we have spent -- let's see: over $500 twice (over $1000 total) on shots and exams for all seven (with one more still upcoming for Seven), over $400 for ultrasounds of two organs, over $200 for Seven's extensive dental work. Warp will later need surgery for probable adrenal growth. She is over 5 and 1/2, and Meeteetse is 7 and 1/4 so they will both need at least one extra medical exam and probably testing later this year. If emergencies come up, as they often do (They tend to do that at least once a year with ferrets.), especially with so many, and with some very rambunctious and adventurous, and some older, then those will also cost. In a few years it will be harder for us; circumstances led to us having several in the same age bracket so at some point we will likely have many needing extensive nursing and vet care and then passing away close together in time. We know what we face and have the background for it but it's going to be he!!. Now. in terms of coats, granted, we live in one of the most expensive areas in the States. The living cost ratio for the part of AZ where Steve's sister lives is 2x better to our 1, and for the part of FL where my sister lives it's something like 2 and 1/2 to our one so on the same income they have 2 to 2 and 1/2 times as far for their money to go -- have not verified these but they are numbers Steve ran into recently in a paper, and they sure match-up for home size, recreation choices, and some other things, but those people aren't much for saving they keep up with the Joneses. Still, that also means that most salaries are lower in some of those areas for some occupations which don't have their high mobility so things balance out for most. It all still boils down to the same thing: you MUST save if you are going to be responsible for the care of the ferrets! :-) Oh, and forget about "keeping up with the Joneses" -- remember that ferrets do that with turds and just think of a car, or place, or clothing that you can't logically afford as a big ferret turd. We find that ferrets to have taught us in this regard, too, as well as in enjoying what we have and laughing each day. Now I expect that a few people on each side will get angry at me for stating they have responsibilities, but anyone who has shared life with ferrets for a long time will know I speak the simple truth from my own viewpoint and from many years of ferrets as companions. It's impossible to do away with the responsibilities in ferret care, but it IS possible to find ways to make things work for a wider range of people, though those are NOT options easy to come by for anyone. Every gain in life is balanced by a sacrifice. (Anyone who wants someone else to bear all the burdens while having all the fun should have an electronic "pet" instead of a living animal in his or her life. Meanwhile, shelters need to be shelters and not collectors.) [Posted in FML issue 2932]