Happy New Year Fellow Fuzzbean Owners! Hope this posting finds everyone enjoying the New Year! My ferrets are doing thankfully well. Sabrina, who I wrote about a couple of months ago, had an abcess in the back of her throat. That was taken out, and the vet was pleased that it was not a tumor. Sabrina did very well with the surgery. The abcess is trying to come back, but now that we know what it is, Dr. Zippay wants to treat it medically. We're now on Cefa-Drops, .25ml, 2x's a day for 14 days. Ferret math struck my house over the holidays! The cutest little cinnamon boy came into my life. And, atleast for me, he answered the question about if lap ferrets are made or are born that way, he's a lap fert from the get-go. He looks around the house for me so he can crawl up and sleep on me. I can be on the pooter, wrapping presents,or cleaning, no matter . He just makes himself at home, and falls asleep. I was trying to dry my hair the other day, he was sleeping in my sweater, and quite indignant that I was moving my arms around so much!! Had the opportunity to meet 'Mo Bob over the holidays. He's a walking fert encylopedia! No wonder we reference him when we have a problem! And no matter what you hear to the contrary, he's a nice guy too! Ran into Jodi with Starfire Ferrets in Harrisburg, Pa. She had 5 rescues that came to her from NYC. All nice,young ferts. The panda was looking at me with those big eyes....She's got them up for adoption if anyone's looking... Regarding the discussion on rescue. I've been involved in animal rescue for the last 7 years, although on a smaller scale right now. I've never rescued ferrets, but I think what I've seen and experienced probably applies to any type of animal. Money can be involved at different steps of a rescue. If the original owner can upfront some money to have the animal vetted, even if the shots are current (which they usually aren't), an exam for parasites and an overall health base line is done to protect other animals already in the system. Monies that come from the original owner can also defray costs in maintaining that animal in rescue, remembering that: a) rescues are no-kill and b) some animals may turn out to be unadoptable. That literally means some animals will spend the rest of their life in rescue. Is it rescuing an animal when it has to be 'bought' out of its current situation? Absolutely! Remember, the person in the situation may determine that circumstances are so bad, they'll do anything to get the animals out of it! The times when people buy-out backyard breeders to stop the problem is a rescue. The breeder doesn't think there's a problem, so why would they 'donate' their animals to rescue? It's usually a source of income for them, and they look at it strictly in a monetary sense. So what if some of the young die each litter, or the parents have health problems. Typically this type of breeder doesn't see past the day they sell the animal to the pet shop or end user. I live in one of the top puppy-mill states in this country, (PA), and see this type of thinking on a regular basis. Once in the rescue system, monies come from donations or fund-raising efforts. The posting from Rose, President, LOS PA Chapter in the Digest of Dec 30-31, does an excellent job of explaining what goes into a rescue, from in-take to adoption. It also shows a person how much time and work goes into rescue. Actually working with the animals leave little time for fund-raising.... And then money can come back into the picture at the time of adoption. Charging for an adoption is a necessary fact. It's what's called 'perceived value' in sales terms. Certainly you want an adoption to be taken seriously, and people are never more serious than when it comes to their money. They need to make a financial commitment as a first step. The only animal I've ever seen come back into our rescue was one that we let go out with a written agreement that the adoption fee would be paid at the end of the month, in an effort to help their finances. The fee was never paid, and the animal came back to rescue 8 months later. Animal rescue is hard work. There is no profit in it for anyone involved. Quite the contrary, most rescues have to dig into their own personal pockets when the need arises. It costs money to rescue animals, and the reality is that it has to come from somewhere. Donations, adoption fees, fund-raising, whatever, it's what makes it financially possible for animal rescues to happen. Well, that's my perspective. Thanks for listening! And thanks to all of you on the FML for sharing of yourselves and your fuzzbeans this past year! Your insights, the funny escapades, the sad stories...I read them and laughed and cried with you in 1996. I look forward to many happy times with my babies in '97 and I wish you the same! Penny [Posted in FML issue 1801]