Two weeks ago FERRET BUSINESS of GA was contacted by the Morehouse School
of Medicine - Center for Laboratory Animal Resources as a resource for
rehoming 17 (originally 18, 1 has since died) ferrets.  They were part
of a breeding program, all bred at this facility & hand reared for
temperament, from Triple F breeding stock.  They were the stock that was
to be used for a helicobactor pylori research study.  This program has
lost its funding from Wyeth & FBoG has been approved by the IACUC
(Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) to take possession of this
business.  After speaking w/the Morehouse contact person, who is also
responsible for the ferrets' care, I collected the following info:
 
- they are all UNNEUTERED
- it is a mixed group of males & females (don't have the breakdown yet)
- ages range between 3 & 5 1/2 years old
- 10 are around 3 y/o & 8 are 5 - 5 1/2 y/o (before the loss of #18)
- utd on distemper
- all need rabies vacs in accordance w/GA Law
- females are a little nippy, but very easy to handle
- males are cuddle bugs (she's definitely partial to the males)
- they have always lived in "very large cages" (that are not coming
  w/them)
- their feet have never touched the floor
- they were not research animals, this was strictly a breeding program to
  supply the research (the ferrets that were in the study have been
  euthanized, all were in excess of 7 years old)
- health is good - no clinical signs of illness
- there are no funds or resources available to neuter or vaccinate
- we are to pick them up as soon as possible
 
I had a nice discussion the researcher heading up the study, Gale W.
Newman, Ph.D.  (http://www.msm.edu/micro_immuno/newman.htm), Associate
Professor, who studies the pathogenesis of infectious diseases,
specifically: Mycobacterium avium in HIV positive patients, and
Helicobactor pylori.  She reiterated that these ferrets are all healthy,
& have wonderful temperaments as a result of being hand-reared & handled
on a daily basis.  Additionally, because these ferret were to be used
in the Helicobactor study, they have all been treated & certified as
Helicobactor mustelae free.  Dr. Newman welcomes being contacted by
any of our veterinarians who would like the protocol that was very
successfully used.
 
After I was contacted, I called all over trying to find out if there
are any guidelines for the final disposition of animals in a laboratory
breeding program - GA Dept of Agriculture, USDA, Emory, UGA.  Finally,
GA Dept of Human Resources informed me that they can be released from
the educational facility to FBoG, but FBoG is responsible for having
them neutered & vaccinated BEFORE transferring them or placing them
into an adoptive home.  Even the attending veterinarian (from Emory) for
the program said s.o.l..  I was hoping to find some way to have them
neutered & vaccinated before FBoG took possession.  Now I come to find
that they can't even be adopted out, even w/the stipulation that they are
neutered & vaccinated by their new family.  Sadly, the only requirement
for the final disposition of the animals in a breeding program like this,
is that if they are euthanized, that it is done humanely in accordance
with the Animal Welfare Act.
 
An organization called Animal Welfare Institute (a watchdog group at
http://www.awionline.org/aims.htm) informed me that most of the time
they are euthanized & that we're lucky Morehouse is making the effort
to find a place for them.  I was pretty much told not to rock the boat,
because Morehouse can still decide to destroy them if transferring them,
or we, becomes an annoyance.
 
So, it looks like we're going to have our most expensive tab yet having
all of them neutered (I don't know the count of males & females) &
vaccinated for rabies.  Hopefully they've all had their distemper vacs
recently.
 
I know that compared to the enormous rescues many of you have done, that
this is nothing.  But it's the most we've taken in at one time, at a time
when we're already at capacity.  They will be picked up as early as
Monday 8/2.  Anyone have any ideas?
 
Juliana Quadrozzi
FERRET BUSINESS of GA
www.ferretbusiness.petfinder.com
[Posted in FML issue 4587]