To all the Chicago people who took the time to write me and the FML, and not one flame amongst them, thank you! I want to clear up some statements in my original post and then I will let this subject rest, if that's agreeable to all. First of all, Animal Welfare League is a shelter located in the Chicago suburbs, not just "southern Illinois". We have been up there several times this year and also the last two years and have probably picked up close to 100 ferrets from them. I realize this is a drop in the bucket in the big Chicagoland area, seeing as how it IS much bigger than St. Louis, but it is sometimes a strain for our shelter. Since Chicago is so much bigger than St. Louis, there ought to be that many more potential adopters. FURRY rescues ferrets from the eastern half of Missouri as well as southern Illinois, so it's not just the St. Louis area that we serve. The adoption process that I mentioned was what Norm described to us two years ago. My understanding was that it involved an application to be filled out and returned to the GCFA, to be followed by a phone call or personal interview before the wannabe adopter actually got to meet the ferrets. I apologize for my misunderstanding as numerous people have corrected me on this. All shelters struggle with finding a balance between being too strict and too lenient. I have had several people suggest to me that since Chicago is so much bigger than St. Louis that there are more morons and thoughtless owners up there. OK, so there also ought to be that many more potential good pet owners. My suggestions about publicity still stand, in spite of the fact that we're 300 miles away. It's great that they have been on TV, and publish a newsletter. I do not understand why there were no ferrets from the GCFA shelter at the GCFA show. I sympathize with the problems with PetSmart - I am still trying to get my $500 check from doing the Adoptathon in May. However, if you don't want to work with PetSmart, try some of the independent pet stores. PetSmart is good because they don't sell ferrets. Not everyone watches TV, or will happen to watch TV on the particular day that ferrets are featured. Being out in public with ferrets is a guaranteed way to find more ferret people. FURRY is not as big as GCFA. But we ARE a no-kill shelter. We work with any government or private animal welfare agency that will talk to us. We will drive up to four hours to deliver and/or pick up ferrets. We have placed ferrets in 10 states, mostly through the power of the Internet. We have a small group of dedicated volunteers, but mostly it's me and my husband. The ferrets have taken over our living room. As all you shelter parents know, this is basically a full time job. We deal with the crazies giving up their ferrets as well as the crazies wanting to adopt ferrets. I don't think it's fair to say that any one shelter deals with more problems than another. I posted on this subject because I felt qualified to comment. Asking for volunteers on list is NOT a sin, and I should have phrased that part of my post better. Dooks to all the fuzzies. Sara Petersen FURRY http://www.furryferrets.org [Posted in FML issue 3229]