The Story of Mischief
 
It was a rainy Tuesday evening in February around 8:00 pm when I took out
the trash and came back inside to have a seat on the couch.  Then it hit
me, Mischief was missing.  Oh NO!!!  I looked everywhere; inside and out.
I checked everywhere twice.  I then began the daunting task of looking
outside.  It was then 3 o'clock in the morning.  I gave up and tried to
fall asleep.  The next day, I called in to work to continue the search.
 
I first called the Indianapolis Humane Shelter and they put me in touch
with The Circle City Ferret Club.  They had not gotten any stray ferrets
in the last day.  I also called a lot of pet shops and veterinarian offices
to see if anyone had brought in a ferret.  Still no luck.
 
It has now been 2 days since she has been missing.  My search continues.
I looked in the dumpster and along the ditch and under cars, the whole
time jingling her favorite fuzzy bell toy.  I looked for 2 days straight.
Wednesday night at about 11:30 pm, a guy was walking his dog.  Just like
everyone else I had seen, I asked him if he had seen a ferret.  He said
"No".  Then, he turned around and said "Yes".  I was so excited.  "Where?
When?" I asked.  He said that his name was James and that he had seen her
under a car and took her up into the storage room and given her some water.
He said it was the night before at around 8:15 pm.  "Well, where is she
now" I asked.  He then informed me that he had taken her to a pet shop
called Uncle Bills near our apartment complex and had given her to a
customer that was in there.  James went on to describe the employee that
was in there and a description of the person that had actually taken her.
James said that the guy he had given her to was wearing a Shelbyville
letter jacket and driving a black Cavalier.
 
That night I thought about how glad I was that she had not frozen to death
or been eaten by anything.  She was only outsidefor about 15 minutes!  I
was also thinking about why couldn't he have called the Humane Shelter or
asked around the neighborhood?  He said himself that he "knew she had to
be someone's pet because she came to him while she was hiding under the car
and she wasn't dirty." I just couldn't believe that he would just give her
to a stranger.
 
The next morning, Thursday, bright and early, I went in to Uncle Bills
Pet shop and questioned everyone in there.  No one had seen a ferret in
their pet store for a really long time.  (Again, my suspicions were getting
the best of me since they had a whole slew of 'Marshall Ferrets New Pet
Adoption Kits')  I waited until that evening and went back in there to
question the second shift employees.  I did have a general description of
one of the employees in there that had supposedly witnessed the giving
of Mischief.  One employee, John, fit the description quite well and I
subjected him to a good 10 minutes of grilling until the manager of the
store said that I had to leave and stop harassing his employees.  I
obliged but put up fliers on the front door, all over, inside and out.
 
My next step was to canvass all of the other possible places that she may
have been seen.  I had 200 fliers made and put them upevery where for the
next 4 days.  (People at my work were a little tired of me calling in, but
sympathized with my plight.) I went to PetSmart, Pet Co., PetWarehouse,
and at least 30 different Vet offices, at apartment complexes and grocery
stores in Indianapolis and Greenwood.  I did not receive any calls at all
about Mischief, except from other ferret owners giving me their condolences
and offering to help me look.
 
As most of my hope was dwindling, I decided that I needed to go to
Shelbyville High school and canvass the student body.  I enlisted one of
my college friends, Michelle, that lives in Shelbyville to help me find
the High school first of all and secondly, help me look for guys in letter
jackets.  This was now nine days after loosing Mischief, I was running out
of hope that Iwould get her back, but I was not as sad as the moment that
I thought she may be dead and I was definitely not giving up (even after
being threatened by my employer of being reprimanded).
 
My friend Michelle and I staked out the Shelbyville High School parking
lot for black Cavalier automobiles.  All black cars got a flier on their
window.
 
As school let out, we made notes of guys coming out of school with letter
jackets on.  When one guy got in to a black Cavilier, my heart skipped a
beat.  He had also intently looked at the flier that was stuck to the
windshield before putting it down and driving of.  Michelle hit the gas and
the chase was on.  I started snapping pictures and writing down the license
plate number.  We followed them to a house where all 3 passengers got out
and went in.  I wrote down the address and the last name on the mailbox.
 
As my thoughts drifted around in my head, as to what I was going to say
in my letter to them, I was already back in Greenwood, and decided to check
on my fliers and re-apply them as necessary.  My second stop was in to a
PetSmart.  This time a lady was in the adoption department and lead me to
an employee that was familiar with ferrets.  He took one look at my flier
and said "Sorry, I don't know anythingabout her."
 
By this time I was learning not to get my hopes up about anything (even
though he called her female!).  I quietly drovehome after visiting a few
more places to put up more fliers.
 
Walking in my door, I saw the light on my answering machine flashing.  I
played the message half-heartedly.  It was Paul, the employee from
PetSmart.  He said that he was pretty sure that he had my ferret and left
his cell phone number.  I just about fainted.
 
I promptly called him back on his cell phone and he said to meet him at
Uncle Bills.  (What a coincidence I thought.)  He said that he drives a
black Cavalier and does have a letter jacket from Shelbyville High school
(these things were stated on the flier, and was possibly his only
motivation to turn himself in before he was found out by other people that
knew him.)  The woman at the adoption center was sure it was him too and
was noticeably surprised that he said it wasn't him.  She possibly was the
person that persuaded him to turn himself in.  (Thank-You wonderful lady!!)
 
As I jumped back in my truck (already equipped with a pet carrier
containing Mischief's favorite food and treats), all I could do was hope.
When I went in to Uncle Billls Pet Shop, I saw Paul talking to John the
employee that was described to me by James myneighbor.  I went up to the
Uncle Bills employee and stated, "Hey, You said you didn't know anything
about my FERRET!!!" He said "I didn't until now."  (Although I have a
sneaking suspicion that he may have had a clue, due to the explicit
descriptionof Paul on my flier.) Paul and John were friends, calmly
chatting as I walked in the door.
 
As I followed him to Shelbyville (probably the longest 45 minute road-trip
in my entire life) to get Mischief back, I really really really hoped it
was her.  (I knew it most likely was) but after 9 days and many rides on
roller-coasters of emotions, I tried to keep my head on straight.  We
stopped in front of a house and we went inside.
 
There she was.  (Big Sigh of HAPPINESS).  I think I didn't breathe for a
full hour.  I picked her up and she kissed my noseand latched on to my
sweater.  She was definitely smiling.
 
He was keeping her in a medium sized cage with 2 other ferrets.  Upon
looking around this guys bedroom, I saw at least 30 fish, about 18 cats,
around 12 dogs, at least 15 birds, a few snakes, and 2 other ferrets
(and barely room for him to sleep).  I determined that he was an animal
collector and had absolutely no intention of trying to find her owner, ME!
The conditions that the animals were kept in were just shy of deplorable.
He had so many animals there, it must have taken him many hours every night
to take care of them.  Since I had offered a reward on my flier, he asked
me about it.  He said that he had taken her to a veterinarian and that it
cost him about $55.00.  I went to the bank machine and gave him $80.00
because I could only take out cash in multiples of 20.  (At that point, I
didn't care if it was $800.00.)
 
I'm glad that I kept on looking for Mischief even after I thought I had
exhausted all of my resources, and that Paul's conscious finally got the
best of him.  I was surprised at myself at what little information that I
had and how it still lead to her recovery.  I was also surprised about the
lack of peoples sense of responsibility to find a pets owner.  I only wish
they could feel what I felt the moment I discovered her missing that cold,
rainy day in February.
 
Pam the human owned by:
Skippy:  "Yum!  Humans taste GOOD!"
Carrot:  "If you pick me up I'll give you a kiss"
Abbygayle: "The Beetle Slayer"
Ruby:  "Honestly, I believe humans to be lower on the food chain"
Mischief: "I can get over ANYTHING, just give me a few minutes to figgure
it out...Ah HA!!"
Emmy:  "C'mon, gimme another raisin!!! Please?!?!?!? Please?!?!?!?"
[Posted in FML issue 3500]