>In the case of breeders it would hopefully make people think twice >before anyone breeds for sale and the people who just breed to take >their jills our of season, what ever the case it would mean a lot less >ferrets and I do not think anyone can find fault with that. Do you really believe that having a few rules in place will do anything other than drive bad breeders underground? How do you propose to decide who is a breeder? Or are you proposing that no one except those registered is allowed to have kits? Licensing will have little effect on the numbers of kits being born. >Well Chris I knew someone would find a problem with it, I can not see >a problem with it weather it is a private firm or a locale government >department who runs the registration scheme, hopefully it would sort >out the honest people in the case of rescues, welfare's and charities. Dont you find it strange that several others see the same faults and problems with this? or are we all wrong and you alone right? As I have said before it will add a financial and administrative burden to those operating welfares. The way you go on about this (some may call it an *obsession* - re your post of a couple of days ago) People may believe that the country is awash with people who are falsely claiming to need money for animal welfare for whatever reason, sadly the case is that there are many GENUINE needs out there, more needs than there are donors, the abusers of this are few and far between thankfully. Answer me this, when does someone become (in your eyes) a collector? is it when they have Ferrets that cant be rehomed, due to health or behaviour issues? So should the "rescuer" be forced to decide between covering the cost of whole life care for the creature in question, or have the unfortunate creatures Killed off if they are unable to bear the costs alone? If (as I have done in the past) I receieve a Ferret from a welfare operator, are they wrong to ask me to donate towards the cost of medical attention that the creature has receieved Whether this be the shots that would routinely be given or spay/neuter? I certainly dont think that is wrong. I would even be happy to contribute towards any medcal care that "my new pet" had received, especially when without it the creature may not have lived to placed in my care. I think the problem here is over simplification, it appears you have not thought this through, I have a cat that is 3rd generation, does that make me a breeder? After all I "bred" her two forbears, what gives you (or anyone else) the right to tell me that I need a licence to breed my pet?... or maybe Im not a breeder, but then there are very few commercial breeders in the UK mostly its backyard stuff, what criteria do you apply to decide who fits the description? I know someone who does Domestic animal rescue work, indeed I almost took 2 Ferrets for her last weekend, but sadly the person surrendering them had a change of mind, Im sure they will become an issue again further down the year... however, she has around 19 cats, this is an ongoing number, last week, she re homed 9, but took in 10, you wouldnt know there had been any "turnover", all you would know is that this week there are as many as last week, but I bet some would be quick to labal her a collector even though this is far from the truth. As I have previously said, Im not a welfare or rescue, but I will (wherever possible) be here for any Ferret that has outlived its usefulness or its welcome. Maybe you should direct your energies towards making people realise that ferrets are not cats, they need interaction, amusement and challenge to have a fulfilling life, to often, people have them for the wrong reason or with the wrong expectations... Im not saying there are not collectors out there, but I dont see regulation as being the saviour you proclaim it to be, its just regulation for the sake of it. You seem to be very focussed on money, my concern is the welfare of the ferrets. >Now we have our first registered ferret rescue with more to follow, how >bad is that. Very bad if it leads to less refuges for an often misunderstood creature, regulation by its nature grows year on year, how long before all the smaller concerns are regulated out of existance leaving only the larger animal shelters, most of whom are ill equipped to handle ferrets and dont understand them like those who run the "dedicated" ferret rescues now. Our thoughts to those with sick or angelled raisin raiders Cris Page,... and Skweek and Rhoobarb In loving Memory of... Bubbles (Da Warweezil) First Ferret par excellence, leader of the Furkidz Custard (Cussieangelweezil) Twin Sister of Rhoobarb Forever in my heart [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 4426]