From Storefront to Second Chances: Where to Find Your Perfect Ferret Companion
The choice is yours
It's always best to get ferrets from a rescue compared to a pet store for several reasons:
Rescues can only handle so many ferrets. If some aren't adopted, then there are ferrets out there the rescue can't take in and they may die, be tortured/starved or are let outside.
Buying a ferret from a pet store to ‘save’ it from a bad situation only means more ferrets will be brought into that bad situation. The more money they make from selling ferrets and supplies, the more ferrets have to go through poor care.
Pet store ferrets come from Marshall Farms. This company is one of PETA's top ten worst companies for their research breeding program. The animals aren't cared for well at all. By buying from the pet store, you are increasing Marshall Farms' profit and causing more animals to go through this horrible care.
A rescue ferret will already have its distemper vaccinations and have been treated for fleas, intestinal parasites, and ear mites. My rescue also treats heart-worms. A pet store ferret must still have two distemper vaccinations and usually need to be treated for ear mites. The vet visits for the distemper vaccinations will be a minimum of $80.
A rescue will know the personality of a ferret and be able to better match it to a family.
Pet store ferrets are nippy and have not been socialized well with humans because of not being handled much. Rescues work with the ferrets constantly so they are used to humans and don't bite.
A rescue will know what kinds of things a ferret likes to play with and do, so you save money by not having to buy lots of toys the ferret won't play with.
There's a good chance a young pet store ferret is going to have some medical issue from the amount of stress it has endured. A ferret returned to the pet store sick that is returned to Marshall Farms is euthanized. A rescue will never knowingly adopt a sick ferret.
