I'm not a shelter owner or anything like that, but I do have an idea. First of all, I can understand her dillemma if she is being truthful. A boyfriend/husband can be overbearing and even frightening at times if you feel you are doing something that is against their will (whether or not they make that obvious to you). It could just be in the woman's head but if she doesn't want to hurt her significant other's feelings then it can be quite suffocating. A state of mental unrest could have been part of the reason for her treatment of the fuzzies. Then again, maybe her hubby didn't leave because of the fuzzies. Maybe this lady really is as dim as she sounds. Regardless of what happened, I wonder if it would be possible to allow her to re-adopt her previously owned fuzzies, but only under a contract stating that you can have frequent and unannounced visits to see them and inspect them, and to question her. If you find anything that isn't to your liking, you can take them back. Unfortunately, it is inconvenient for you to have to keep after her. This does put the ferrets at some risk however, and I doubt you or anyone else would be willing to take that risk. But I can't think of another way to judge if she is truthful or not... -Kate [Posted in FML issue 4931]