I've read all the posts and the political pros and cons of rescuing hoarded ferrets.I've read many ideas on how ,what should be done, what should be done with the horders themselves etc.. It is true that the rescue community.. be it focused on cats, dogs, ferrets or birds.. is stuck cleaning up the mess these people make. BUT, hoarding cannot be either perpetuated or prevented by a rescue community. Hoarding is a mental illness.People who have the uncontrolled urge to hoard,abuse,neglect are crazy. Having said that, I still have no sympathy for someone who hoardes. An example of how crazy, is that Di bachman has hidden breeding ferrets despite the horrors of her garage.She lacks the emotional connections to realize just how horrible those conditions are for other beings. She has a screw loose. Many horders,once bailed out by a resuce community go on to do it again.. i.e. , The Florida hoarder wishing to open a wildlife perserve. What do you think would have eventually happened to the wildlife?.. and who would be stuck cleaning up that mess?. It is a resuce communitys bussiness to rescue.What to do with these sick people is another matter.How to prevent hoarding is a whole other subject. You can reason with these people and they don't hear you. Two months ago in New York the humane society was called to a house by neighbors. The homeowner had almost 100 dogs in the house. Some were decomposed on the floors. The house was so full of amonia , the resucers wore hazmat suits to go in.The dogs were sick,dehydrated,starved,filthy, and frightened.This man had actually moved out of his house, it was so contaminated.He used to come and visit the dogs. He had been bailed out of a similar situation years before. These are not the acts of a rational human being.THIS TIME the man in question was sentenced to psychiatry to prevent another repeat performance of this tragedy.Sure as shooting, these people are repeat offenders.,just as Di bachman kept breeders with (supposedly) plans to open her little shop of horrors elsewhere. I still have NO sympathy for horders.It is a good thing I cannot get my hands on the likes of Di bachman and the Florida hoarder. But for all armchair quarterbacks, of which I am one here, .. do a rescue of this magnitude before you criticise.. Christine Twilight girls Art pages Smiling squeezles weasels pages [Posted in FML issue 4278]