Sandi wrote: >Why would a donation from a shelter willing to take in these kids >have to give money to Lori when they will be spending so much to get >the ferrets spay/neutured ,vaced & ADV tested? It is my understanding (I'm not an attorney) that a donation is just that. If you choose not to give a "donation", the other party can't demand one, and the services/goods still must change hands. A donation implies something voluntary. I have been to seminars before where a donation was requested. Most of us just pay it. However, some people refuse to pay it and they still must be allowed in. Someone might want to check with an attorney to see if this is correct. I agree that any shelter/rescue/sanctuary who agrees to take in some of these ferrets should NOT be required to pay for them, no matter what you call it. They will be spending way more than they will ever realize in adoption fees. And, as Sandi said, I would suspect they won't be easy to re-home (or "homed" in this case LOL), and may not be able to be adopted for a good while, as they are not socialized. One question that has been on my mind is whether Mr. McKay, and his family members, have signed some sort of agreement that they will never breed ferrets again. Otherwise, I think the ferret community is just helping him cull his stock, and they will be back up to full capacity in just a few years. This needs to be clarified as I have "heard" that the family kept a good number of ferrets to continue breeding. Also, were these ferrets purchased? This is another rumor going around. Or was it an actual surrender, with no money changing hands? These are the things I think we, the ferret community, deserve to know. I'm not asking Ms. Sies to take time from her busy schedule to answer these questions, but hope someone else will get the information and pass it on. Katharine [Posted in FML 5738]