Ferret steals mic cover

This is sooo cute... A black-footed ferret steals a CNN microphone cover.

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Ferret Proofing Your House

One of the most important thing you can do as a responsible ferret owner is to ferret proof your house. Ferrets will squeeze into the smallest places (if the their head will fit, the rest will follow). For example, my ferret Abby (she weighs about 1 lb) likes to squeeze underneath doorways. One day I got up and she tried to squeeze underneath a doorway and was STUCK, I don't know how long. I installed strips along the bottom of doorway to prevent this from happening again.

When I moved into my current house, before the clothes dryer was installed, she escaped through the dryer exhaust. She proceeded to the neighbors back door, and a friendly ferret that she is, the neighbors picked her up, came over and asked if I had a ferret. I did not know even know she was GONE.

Here's an article about household dangers

Ferrets in America

I found this website "The National Ferret Welfare Society" and this interesting article about how people in the US view ferrets as opposed to the view in the UK. Also, a history about how ferrets came to America, and how they were used.

In this article I would like to take a brief look at the position of the ferret in the USA today, and contrast it with an historical view. For the average British keeper the mention of ferrets and the United States, together in one sentence, can bring to mind some very strange images, sometimes, fairly or unfairly, resulting in amazement, amusement through disbelief to complete horror.

Read the rest of the article here "Once Upon A Time In America"

Article about Ferrets being seen as "Disposable Pets'

I have tears reading this article from the American Ferret Association. It's about the woman in Virginia Beach - 97 ferrets seized and 61 had to be euthanized because of poor health. WHY DID SHE NOT ASK FOR HELP?

"MANY THINGS ARE LOST FOR WANT OF ASKING"
CHINESE PROVERB

The article continues about "the disposable ferret". People buying ferrets, not realizing the commitment they need to make. In this busy world, if you have kids and work, you have little time left for anything else (I was there at one time). These animals are like children, and as an owner you have to take the time to keep them happy and healthy, creating a deep bond. They are not like cats or dogs at all. They are totally dependent on you and crave human interaction. I don't work or have kids, and I don't cage my ferrets, so I'm able to spend a lot of time with them.

Here's the link to this article: 97 ferrets seized in Virginia Beach

Video about Pet food

This in an interesting video about pet food, which I believe is the reason our pets are getting cancers at an alarming rate.


A multi-billion dollar conspiracy may be responsible for up to 87% of all dog deaths. See ... all » it blown WIDE-OPEN in this video. You will never care for your dog the same again.

Pet Food Recycling - article about what's in your pet's food - this is just horrible

THE DARK SIDE OF RECYCLING

More about the horrors of what goes into commercial pet foods.

[Author's name withheld by request] In February 1990, the San Francisco Chronicle carried a macabre two-part story detailing how stray dogs, cats and pound animals are routinely rounded up by meat renderers and ground up into - of all things - pet food. According to the researcher who brought the information to the Chronicle, the paper buried the story and deleted many of the charges he had documented. A report he worked on for ABC television's 20-20 was similarly watered down. In exasperation, he sent the story to Earth Island Journal.

The rendering plant floor is piled high with "raw product": thousands of dead dogs and cats; heads and hooves from cattle, sheep, pigs and horses; whole skunks; rats and raccoons - all waiting to be processed. In the 90-degree heat, the piles of dead animals seem to have a life of their own as millions of maggots swarm over the carcasses.

Two bandana-masked men begin operating Bobcat mini-dozers, loading the "raw" into a 10-foot- deep stainless-steel pit. They are undocumented workers from Mexico, doing a dirty job. A giant auger-grinder at the bottom of the pit begins to turn. Popping bones and squeezing flesh are sounds from a nightmare you will never forget.

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Humane Society wants my money

I received an envelope from The Humane Society of the United States. They sent me some lovely gifts - 4 real cute animal note cards and envelopes, return address labels, some animal stickers, a membership card, a window sticker to show my membership and a four page letter. All they want in return is money for membership. The smallest amount is $5.00. I wonder just how much it cost to send all this? Of course it's for a good cause - the end animal abuse, but they play to your emotions. go to their website, and all you see is words and pictures of horrid animal abuse. I read enough about animal abuse with ferrets, and of course it make me real sad. I wonder just how much money goes for "administration".

According to this website :

Despite the words “humane society” on its letterhead, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is not affiliated with your local animal shelter. Despite the omnipresent dogs and cats in its fundraising materials, it’s not an organization that runs spay/neuter programs or takes in stray, neglected, and abused pets. And despite the common image of animal protection agencies as cash-strapped organizations dedicated to animal welfare, HSUS has become the wealthiest animal rights

HSUS is big, rich, and powerful, a “humane society” in name only. And while most local animal shelters are under-funded and unsung, HSUS has accumulated $113 million in assets and built a recognizable brand by capitalizing on the confusion its very name provokes. This misdirection results in an irony of which most animal lovers are unaware: HSUS raises enough money to finance animal shelters in every single state, with money to spare, yet it doesn’t operate a single one anywhere.

And what makes me really angry - Ferrets being the third most popular pet in the US, here's the HSUS Statement on Ferrets as Pets . Only 3 articles on ferret pet care are on their website.

Ferrets make great pets, if you're willing to spend the time

Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: I am proudly owned by four ferrets who were rescued from people who would probably have sent them to a shelter.

People may see them in the pet store, where they look so adorable and interesting, but they are a lot of work. It is well worth it, but ferrets might not make great pets for younger children or people who work long hours or are just too busy.

We feed our "fur-babies" a high-protein diet – it's actually four types of food that we mix together. Ferrets are carnivores, so they need a lot of animal protein. Mine have kept the spider and cricket population in my house to a minimum.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/columnists/heloise/stories/DN-heloise_0126liv.ART.State.Edition1.3780c6a.html

Lost ferret catches ride home

Lost ferret catches ride home


I love reading articles like this:

He's young, his hormones are racing and he's got a stirring for adventure, so what's a ferret to do?

If you're Weasel the Woonona ferret, you run away, explore the sights then hitch a ride home on a postal bike.

Weasel was certainly looking for adventure during a visit to Strachan Park on Wednesday with owner Derek Cross.

Mr Cross, 37, the self-styled "Ferret Meister of Woonona", had his hands full exercising his other seven ferrets and Weasel, living up to his name, took his chance.

http://illawarra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/lost-ferret-catches-ride-home/1178201.html

Pets left to fend for themselves in abandoned homes.

This is really sad when the economy has an effect on pets like this. But I don't understand how people can leave them like this?

Family pets fall victim to subprime crisis

CHICAGO (AFP) - Forget about the lost furnishings and finances, the most pitiful victims of the subprime mortgage crisis rocking the United States are the family pets.

Shelters across the country have seen sharp upticks in the number of people giving up their pets in recent months because they have been forced out of their homes.
And -- more tragically -- neighbors, police and foreclosure agents are finding increasing numbers of pets left to fend for themselves in abandoned homes.
"We're finding too many animals who have starved to death," said Stephanie Shain, director of outreach for the Human Society of the United States.
While some people dump their pets on the street, others go so far as to lock the animal in a closet where their cries for help are harder to hear, she said.
It can take weeks for an animal to starve to death and desperate scratch and bite marks are usually found on doors and windows.
"They will eat anything -- furniture, or carpet or wallboard -- to try to ingest something," Shain said in a telephone interview.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080125/lf_afp/uspropertyfinanceanimals