>Ingella Arwidsson Wrote : >What strucks me when I read the ferret list, are all the cages - it seems >to me that almost everyone in the US keep their ferrets in cages and just >let them out to play. I son't know about Sweden but in the US not many apartment owners will allow their tenents to have pets of any kind. I have talked a few such owners into allowing my ferrets into the building simply because they are caged when I'm not home. Some places it is almost impossible to find an apartment that will allow ferrets at all. We all know that they don't usually damage the apartment unless they are extremely bored and have nothing else to do. Frankly, I think my cat has caused more damage than any fuzzy could ever dream of. My ferrets are let out every chance I get. They must stay caged when I am gone because that is the agreement that I made with the manager. And yes, they have come in periodically to check that they are caged. In St. Paul, I have heard it said that you need a permit to have a fuzzy in the city. I have tried to acquire said permit but none of the city departments wants to own up to the responsibilty of such a permit. I have gone on a round of calls that starts with wildlife and goes through animal control and back around again to wildlife. Everyone has their own idea as to who should be able to issue said permit but noone actually has or has seen this permit. Due to the lack of said permit, I am very careful with my fuzzheads. I love them dearly and would not want to lose them. I can't move out of town yet either (don't think I haven't tried). My fiance and I share a car and work different shifts so it is difficult to move when you need a ride to get to work. In short, my fuzzies get out of the cage as often as possible whether they are playing or not when they are free is up to them. They do have free run of the apartment now for around 6 hours (when I am home and awake). I would very much like to give them the opportunity to live outside of a cage permanently and look forward to a time when I will be able to. I am glad that yours are so well cared for and quite envious that you can let them run free in your place. Please don't criticize us owners who do the best we can with what we have to work with. The problem isn't us but the societal views of uneducated people within the country. If you have been reading the FML, you know that people have been fighting for the right to own these wonderful creatures in the first place. Boy, sorry to have made this sound like such a tirade. I'll come down off of my soap box now since I think others will most likely respond to this as well. Brenda [Posted in FML issue 2338]