I'm not trying to start a flame war, but I think the WA state shelters are getting a bad rap, in particular the Little Dudes Ferret Ranch (LDFR) referenced in an earlier post. Here's my two cents. LDFR is an excellent shelter ran by a very caring individual. Her only crime in this situation appears to be making a decision based on the information she had at hand. Frankly, based on the information I've gathered from reading all the related postings on this particular subject, I don't blame LDFR for making the decision they did at all....their unenviable job is to make sure the ferrets entrusted in their care are placed with knowledgeable and caring parents for life. While I sympathize with the circumstances that led to the return of Phoebe to the shelter, the shelter's primary job is their ferrets care and well-being. Most adoption agreements I've seen involve sending a monetary sum to the adopting shelter, which goes towards their expenses. I don't think anyone believe running a ferret shelter is cheap. Additionally, when fostering a ferret, most shelters require a monthly monetary commitment, which generally goes towards continuing medical needs of the fostered ferret. I've yet to see the agreement which pays the adopting individual. Ferrets are expensive. Anyone want to contradict that? My wife and I just spent over $900 on our ferret for insulimona surgery. Bills pile up quickly, but as a responsible ferret owner, I think we all know our responsibility is to our little ones first, and second to our retirement plans :) I do applaud you for making the difficult decision to ensure Phoebe was placed in a home that could care for her when you no longer could. That's a decision I hope I'm never faced with, and you chose the hard right over the easy wrong in putting Phoebe's needs first. You're correct in saying too many parents would just dump the ferret when they didn't want to deal with it, but that doesn't make it right, and shouldn't reflect our expectations of what a parent should do. If you're now in a situation different from the one you were in with Phoebe, where you can provide the financial and emotional support for an additional ferret, despite the potential costs, then demonstrate that to the shelters in the area. LDFR is not the only one. If they don't trust you yet, then work to correct their "incorrect perceptions". Spend some time volunteering, try to address their doubts, and maybe you'll find them warm up to the possibility of adoption. Remember, just like you are responsible for your ferrets, they're responsible for the ones in their care, so don't fault them for being overly cautions. What ferret owner ISN'T overly cautions about their little ones? Oh, and just to clear up one more misconception unrelated to ferrets, your email has no "Right of Privacy". Despite the disclaimers employers have on their employees' emails, since email transits various public networks, it's widely considered to be in the "Public Domain". Unless you encrypt it and mark it with verbiage saying you don't intend for it to be retransmitted without your permission, etc., expect that it could wind up anywhere. I personally don't send anything in an email message that I would mind showing up in the newspaper.... [Moderator's note: I STRONGLY disagree with that, as does our legal department. Mailing list posts are one thing, but private e-mail IS PRIVATE. Legal disclaimers are nearly worthless beyond existing laws because they are not pre-existing consensual contracts (e.g. I can't enforce email I send you saying something like "if you read this you have to pay me $1000 and give up your ferrets for adoption"). Anyhow all of this doesn't change the fact that emails are PRIVATE unless the author relinquishes rights. (Not a lawyer, but I do think I have an informed opinion.) BIG] Again, I'm not trying to pass judgement on anyone here, merely to provide another perspective. I've dealt with LDFR personally, and find them to have the best kind of owner.....one who cares for the ferrets in her custody (and those entrusted to her care temporarily) like they were her children. Since when is careful parenting a crime? Dale [Posted in FML issue 5210]