I've thought about posting in response to little Penny for two days now and since I awoke early this morning with much on my mind, I figured if I want a good sleep I better unload some here. I was sad to read that Penny was being taken from her foster home because of a post made by her foster parent. It is quite true that foster homes (well most of them anyway, or so we hope) can provide more one on one attention than a shelter can, even a shelter that has many volunteers. As long as Penny receives the much needed and proper care from her foster parent, I don't understand why she is being taken away. This could devastate an already ailing ferret. Hasn't she had enough sadness, pain and suffering in her life already? I didn't read into the original post about the ferrets in the shelter needing homes, obviously others did. Perhaps there has been some miscommunication between the foster home and the shelter operator or the words that were written were not expressed as they could have been. Bottom line are the ferrets. Is it truly in Penny's best interest to remove her from her foster home? I'm not involved nor am I taking sides (other than for Penny) and I'm positive someone is thinking this very moment that I shouldn't open my mouth since I don't have all the facts and I'm not a party to the situation. However, as a ferret guardian I feel I have the right to speak out if I see a need. I do believe that it is Penny's interests that should be put above and beyond anything else. And to the foster parent, I think you said you wished Penny would never leave you so why not adopt her? There are good and bad foster homes, shelters, breeders, individuals, caretakers, etc. It would be heaven if everyone was responsible, loving, caring and went the extra mile for others but sadly that isn't the way of our world. Miscommunication can cause hurt feelings and anger which leads to suffering on someone's part. On the up side there are many wonderful loving caring responsible compassionate people that will go the extra mile and will try to help whenever they can. Please, lets all try to do what is best for the little ones. Hugs to all. tle (who has a million things on her mind and is very tired) Troy Lynn Eckart Ferret Family Services http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/ Please sign up to support our charity http://www.iGive.com/html/ssi.cfm?cid=46&mid=58395 [Posted in FML issue 3154]