would you keep him?ethics question

ok today i find a fereet on my porch who was in heat distress ferrets cant handle heat at all it kills them .well it was very hot today.and he was in a bad way so i took him in and got him some water and even turned on my ac. for him he still seems like he aint well ferrets are usaly like a cat on crack lol.there very active and playfull he is just lyeing in his cage.so would it be bad if i keep him.

If you found him on your porch, you could check the newspaper for lost pets, or your neighborhood for posters. I don't know the laws in your area, but in many areas, a stray pet that comes to you becomes yours very quickly when you assume it's care. The trying to find the original owner is more a consideration and respect for the feelings of someone that's lost a pet. It isn't usually a legal requirement.

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raggie33 said:
ok today i find a fereet on my porch who was in heat distress ferrets cant handle heat at all it kills them .well it was very hot today.and he was in a bad way so i took him in and got him some water and even turned on my ac. for him he still seems like he aint well ferrets are usaly like a cat on crack lol.there very active and playfull he is just lyeing in his cage.so would it be bad if i keep him.

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I think that keeping him would be the humane thing to do. Also as Empath said, check the lost pet ads in case the owver is looking for it.

Check this faq and the "health" portion in particular. It might be helpful.

any pictures?

nah but if he is doing better in the am ill have some. i have him in a cage now he apears to be doing a little better.but im afraid the flash may disturb him.maybe ill try to take a non flash pic tonight

It could be the heat really took the get up and go out of him and he needs to recuperate. Their metabolism has to be rather high to sustain their "cat on crack" energy level and what you are doing sounds like the right way. Please be careful around it, there is the possibility of it having rabies and its exhibiting the symptoms currently. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, even though I portray one on TV.

i have a feeling who it belongs to .but they never take care of there pets.pets deseeve compasion and they take respnbilty

My dad found a huge amazon parrot under the stairs one summer day. Bird was starved and 3 cats were ready to have some chow... He kept it, went to few pet stores to ask if anyone lost such a magnificant animal. It's been 6 years now and she is still with him.

Keep it Raggie.

Especially if you suspect A$$holes had the animal before, you can only make the ferret's life MUCH better!

As far as the ethics go, the owner has a right to recover his property, but the pet has a right to humane treatment. You have to decide if those are exclusive and which is more important. Generally the humane treatment would win out over ownership in my opinion. But it is hard to define the boarder between humane and inhumane treatment.

There's always the possibility that the ferret's life was miserable with his previous owners so he made a break for it.

he is doing way better today. going to deworm him when tractors gets new wormer med they have the crapy kind now

Great. Give him a scratch under the chin for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I think i'd take him to a shelter myself

rofl shelter? i live in a small town they deal with dogs and cats.and most of them get put to sleep.unless there cute puppys

No, thats rubbish, they should set up a shelter just for him

If Raggie wants to keep him and wants to take care of him why set up shelter?

Matt

Almost any domestic animal will do better in a loving home than in a shelter.

A visit to a vet (if it's affordable) is probably in order.

Definitely take the poor bastich to a vet. Also be careful what you feed him. Either feed him special ferret food like the Marshalls stuff, which is expensive or you can feed him kitten food. I use Purina Kitten Chow for mine and she does just fine on it. It has the extra protein they need. You can also get a high-calorie paste that ferrets seem to love, I believe it's called Ferretvit. It has all the nutrients they need in it.
It's very important that you don't feed them dog food or regular cat food. It simply doesn't have enough protein in it and they will get malnutrition and die.
Same thing with the deworming. Make sure it's rated for use with ferrets. They are not cats or dogs and have needs that are specific to ferrets. Good luck.