I have to speak here -- I am in Louisiana and a board member of the Humane Society of NW Louisiana which has no ties to the HSUS. Many dogs that are in the shelters or that are surrendered to us can be due to moving and things of that nature, but not all of it. There have been many times when dogs were surrendered due to "I want a younger dog now" -- as for the ferrets, since I do the ferrets and bunnies -- I get calls from the local shelters and from the people themselves as they no longer want it or they are moving and it isn't fair to the ferret and all sorts of reasons. Yes they are all neutered of course. And I took in 15 from the DMK rescue. So not all surrenders are for really valid reasons if you ask me such as "I want a younger dog/cat now." Sorry if I sound a tad harsh but it is the truth -- that is the way a lot of people do their animals. When I receive a ferret(s) in I ask where they got it to begin with and how old is it and all sorts of questions including why they are surrendering it. Granted I got started with the ferrets when Hurricane Katrina hit since I already had ferrets and the HSNWLA asked me if I would take them in and my answer was of course, we had quite a few surrendered to us as they knew it would be quite a time before they would be able to get them back and they didn't think it would be fair to the ferrets. So we actually do get them for reasons that aren't that good or valid -- not just the ferrets, I'm including all animals. Nancy in Louisiana [Posted in FML 5842]