Ferret Farms – What You Should Know About Ferret Farms Before Buying a Fuzzy
We’ve all heard of puppy mills. But have you ever heard of ferret farms? Have you ever even wondered where pet stores get their ferrets?
Most pet store ferrets come from ferret farms. Even though the conditions in which these fuzzbutts are bred and kept have somewhat improved lately, thanks to animal welfare organizations, there are still some consequenses you may not be aware of.
These ferret farms are basically fuzzy factories. The fuzzbutts are bred on a large scale. Preventing any normal contact with humans. When they’re shipped off to the pet store, they are not housetrained, not used to being handled by humans, not used to any of the normal household sounds.
And when you look at most pet stores, the interaction between the ferrets and humans is extremely limited. As for the ferret cages where they are kept 24/7, most are way too small as well.
Another issue with ferret farm fuzzies is poor health. The only thing these fuzzy mills are interested in is making money. Pretty much the same as puppy mills. They don’t care about gene pools and bloodlines, diseases and behavior traits. They don’t care that whoever buys one of their ferrets might have to say goodbye to it in less than a year due to illnesses. They just want to “make” as many fuzzies as they can with as little resources as possible.
Most ferret farms in the US spay/neuter and descent their ferrets before sending them to pet stores. Descenting is not necessary. As a matter of fact, it’s even illegal in quite a few European countries. And as for spaying or neutering an animal at such a young age, the new owner can easily let a vet take care of that when the animals are full grown and have reached adulthood.
On the other hand, only selling altered animals will prevent “accidental” litters that might have trouble finding a home. And it prevents the females from dying when they’re in heat and not being used to breed. Though in all honesty, I think the new owner should be (made) aware of this problem with unaltered females before she takes the furball home.
It’s not all bad though. Thanks to public awareness, some ferret farms are changing their ways where possible. By providing better health care, superior food and better housing conditions.
But in general, I would like to advise against buying fuzzies that come from ferret farms. There are better alternatives. Ferret adoption is one of those alternatives. Or buying from a private ferret breeder. You can get all the info about where to buy a ferret at http://adopt-a-ferret-101.com.