The subject of whether or not a shelter should ever say no when contacted by a kill shelter has gotten a number of comments on both sides of the argument, and many people have made good comments on the subject without resorting to flames. I will make one last comment for myself. Perhaps the entire situation could have been avoided, had there been some better communication between the shelters in VA. When the 2 shelters who said no were contacted by the county animal control, instead of saying no, they might have said that while they could not taken in the ferret or ferrets, they would check around and see if there was someone who could. And, with checking with other area shelters, they might have contacted Marlene, and the end result would have been the same without any need for controversy on the FML. On the other hand, when Marlene was contacted by the county shelter, knowing there were shelters closer, instead of criticizing those shelters on a public forum like the FML, she could have contacted the closer shelters to see why they had said no. I don't know who the second shelter was, or what their reason was, but if she had contacted Robin, she would have learned that Robin had surgery on her hands, and was currently closed to intakes because she was at the absolute limit she could properly handle given her current situation. I can understand Robin's situation. In the last 2 years, I have had 2 surgeries on my right shoulder, putting my right arm and hand completely out of commission for several weeks each time, and I am now facing a third. I am lucky - I have a husband willing to help with the ferrets and even with caring for me. There were periods of time during my recovery where I couldn't even fix my own meals or pour myself a glass of milk - let alone feed ferrets and care for them. If I lived alone, I would have been in serious trouble. It always makes more sense for shelters to work together, and to contact each other privately, rather than criticizing each other openly in a public forum. We will never all agree on everything, but that doesn't mean we can't get along and try to work together. We all do what we do for the sake of the ferrets. Generally the people who accomplish the most and do the most good are the ones who work quietly in the background, doing what they can. They don't really care who does or doesn't know what they accomplish - they simply want to do what they can to help ferrets. And, while there are exceptions, I generally find that the people who feel a constant need to boast about their accomplishments and criticize others for what they haven't done are the ones who are more talk than action. If there is a lesson to be learned from all this, it is that shelters need to network more, and try to communicate and work together. Shelters that network with other shelters will always be more successful in the long run than those that don't. Danee DeVore ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know! For more information visit: <http://www.ferretadv.com> ADV - Find out how you can help: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/ [Posted in FML 6627]