Small animal rescues filling to capacity

TGIF! Here's a brief round up of pets or ferret-related stories from this week:

• There's a problem that we at The Ferret Inn are too familiar with: animals shelters across the country are filled to capacity.
• The fact that two black-footed ferrets were born at the zoo is an oldie, but a goodie. But here's the interesting part: it was born using nine-year-old frozen sperm.
• How much would you spend to save your pet's life? For some people, not very much. A reader to a column responded: "Basically, my 'frugal' belief (I do not consider myself a cheapskate) is that I paid $110 for our family cocker spaniel from a rescue organization six years ago, and I will pay no more than $110 to keep her alive."
• And here's a preview to the infamous ferret documentary that makes the rest of us look sane. I've been told that this is something I need to watch before heading over to Fandango.
  

New arrival: Cotton

This adorable fourteen-week-old girl just arrived this morning. She was given up because her cagemate was killed by the previous owner's family dog. And even though she's in a new environment, you could already see her playfulness and sweet nature. As of today, we don't know her name yet! Update: We've since named her "Cotton".

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Two more pictures here.

Pool-side work

Today was such a beautiful day that Nancy and I decided to work outside. And by work, I mean fill litter boxes with water and watch the ferrets play.

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Ashley wasn't a fan of the cold water.



She preferred to dig.

Sometimes they needed a little ... encouragement to get in.

Miss Fifi, who usually hates her cage, didn't look too happy.

Napster poses peacefully near the water ... before being dunked in.

Clyde's the only one that (voluntarily) jumped in the water.

Adoption day at bark!

This Saturday, The Ferret Inn was part of an adoption day at our local pet food store, bark! We inform the public why they would want to adopt ferrets (or any other animals) as opposed to buying from a pet store. We bring about half a dozen ferrets to play around in a play pen and most people can't resist them. My favorite part about doing it is seeing how many people are surprised to learn just how friendly the ferrets are. I've only done adoption day twice (and both times on Clarksville's BARK!) and it's wonderful to see how many pet owners adopted from shelters. I would say that the number one question they ask is, "would ferrets get along with my pets?"

We show the people that most of our ferrets are given up because the previous owners say they can't afford them, or they have no time for them, or they just don't want them anymore. In other words, we show them there is nothing wrong with the actual ferrets, only their situation with their previous owners.

While showing pet owners how fun ferrets can be, we also tell them the things they wouldn't hear at a pet store: how ferrets require high-quality food, regular vet check-ups, constant ferret-proofing, and occasional assistance on finding the litter boxes.

If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of, please contact Bonnie (at bonnierussell@all2ez.net) or me (at fili.telles@gmail.com).

Welcome to The Ferret Inn (blog)

My name is Fili and I am a volunteer at The Ferret Inn. My goal for this blog is to:

• inform people who want to know what we're about
• connect volunteers with one another and different events

I want to provide my tens of tens of readers with relevant news articles, ferret-related issues, and to talk about what makes the shelter great: the volunteers (and the ferrets, of course!).

Currently, I'm planning on:

• getting to know individual volunteers better, maybe through a short Q&A?
• showcasing a ferret of the month
• providing information on upcoming events
• giving updates on the shelter
• giving updates on the ferrets' health, adoptions, etc
  

If any one wants to contribute to this blog in any way, please let me know! You can give me ideas on what to post about, post an entry, and/or become a regular poster.


Jezebel says, "Welcome to The Ferret Inn blog," while adding, "the camera adds 10 ounces."