Forgive me gang, I am *way* behind on the FML and personal emails. Someone brought me a ferret that was 3/4 dead Wednesday night and it has been a 24 hour a day job ever since, just to keep this little boy going and start him on the road to recovery *finally*!!!! I will post that story separately. One thing I wanted to respond to is the post by Lisa.. >From: Ferret Rescue of Tidewater <[log in to unmask]> >As far as Patricia is concerned I am sure that she is speaking about >irresponsible breeders, not those that only breed when they have people who >want a kit already lined up, or those that keep their ferrets in clean, airy >environments, or those that track their kits through their lifespan, or >those that when they discover a genetic defect in a particular line, >neuter/spay the animal; she is referring to those that do not do any of >this, and I have to say that I agree with her! I do not breed, but I am not >anti-breeder; I simply choose not to breed ferrets. Lisa, you are absolutely correct in explaining what I meant (truly devoted shelter mom's and dad's *do* think alike, don't they :>). If a breeder follows all the guidelines you listed, then I have no qualms with that breeder at all. However, I have no use for breeders who breed simply for profit, and/or cut corners on quality of food, conditions, human interraction, etc., for the sake of saving a few bucks. If they are not truly devoted to the lifetime health and happiness of every ferret sold, well, suffice it to say I cannot call them a 'ferret person', as other things are more important. (I could say alot more, but I'd best not get off on that.) Personally, I would never consider breeding as long as there are shelters literally overflowing with abandoned, neglected, and needy ferrets. Unfortunately, I imagine it will be a very long time before this changes. Every day, ferret farms continue to saturate the market, catering to the impusle buyer and true animal lover alike :( . >From: Catherine Shaffer <[log in to unmask]> >I still disagree with the practice of buying "rescue" ferrets. If you buy >a ferret for $100 from a rich spoiled brat college student who refuses to >take responsibility for the beast any longer, you are not rescuing him. You >are buying him. As another shelter mom pointed out (tle I think), sometimes these ferrets are in just as apalling conditions or moreso than ones turned over to shelters voluntarily. You are right, that it teaches the rich brat nothing, and I wish there were a way to truly make him/her see that they are shirking *their* responsiblity, but some things we just can't do much about. People can only change themselves, no one else can do it for them. However, as a FERRET CARETAKER and DEVOTED FERRET LOVER, it is my obligation to help every ferret in need that I possibly can. If I have to shell out money to do this, I will, and I have. I have never regretted it. Asher was living in a shed with no A/C in the hot summertime, walking on weeks of poop in his cage, no food in his bowl, and *nothing* else in his cage, no bedding, no hammock or cloth of any sort to sleep on, and no toys, only an empty food bowl and a little water, with no human contact or interraction. Could you walk away from that? I couldn't. So I paid them the $50 they insisted on, and I could sleep that night knowing he was safe and cool in my house, and was contentedly sleeping in a clean cage, on a soft bed, with plenty of food in his belly. Asher is only one of several stories I could relate. I don't go out looking for ferrets to buy, I am careful to try to simply educate those who have ferrets for sale about the importance of proper care for ferrets, then I give them my phone number and the ferret club number to pass along to the new owner, so that they have some place to start if they want to learn about ferrets. But if I run across a ferret in poor conditions or especially if one is sick, I will explain the hardships shelters face financially and at least try to get them to drop the price some, explaining how I screen adoptors so they can rest easy that if *I* take the ferret it will get an excellent home. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. Either way I usully come away with the ferret in need. >Someone else could just as easily have bought him and he would probably be >just fine. Not always true, in my area, most people have no clue what it takes to care for a ferret, proper food, proper vet care, ferretproofing, safe toys, etc., so if the ferrets at least 'go through' the shelter systems the new owners get some, if not a very extensive training/education regarding caring for their new ferret. If we are lucky we break even on their adoption fees. So what is the harm in that? And likely, ultimately you have saved a life. (BTW, the lady who brought the ferret to me that was 3/4 dead, has owned ferrets for 3 years and it took her almost a week to figure out this little boy was sick. He had been sick and hardly eating/drinking/pooping at all for at least that long!!!) Catherine, I am not flaming you at all and I hope you do not take offense at my statements, I am only offering another point of view. It is pretty amazing and often very disheartening to see all that we shelter mom's and dad's see when we take in a ferret. Trish Director, Ferrets First Rescue & Shelter [Posted in FML issue 1805]