I would like to pass on my personal experience with the Vinnie saga.
My husband rescued the terrified and injured first Vinnie (first one
mentioned on the FML anyway) from under a shed in the muddy backyard of a
neighbor of the Owings.  Vinnie was terrified because there was a large
dog (pit bull or rottweiler, something like that I can't remember) that
had attacked him and he had retreated under the shed.  The dog's owner
had tried to get Vinnie to come out by spraying him with a hose, when
that didn't work they contacted the Cascade Ferret Network.  My husband
immediately went out to rescue the poor guy.  Vinnie was making the
horrible sounds only a terrified ferret can make.  My husband was able
to crawl through the mud under the shed to get to Vinnie.  Vinnie was
infested with fleas and appeared to be unable to use his hind legs.  He
had a bruised area along his back so we assumed he had been injured by
the dog.  Permanent nerve damage can occur if injuries like this are
not treated immediately, so Vinnie was taken to an emergency clinic for
treatment that night and to the shelter's regular vet the next day.  The
vets were unsure if Vinnie would recover use of his hindquarters or not.
Within a day or two we got a call from Vinnie's owner.  Vinnie had racked
up quite a vet bill by that time and I was concerned about sending Vinnie
back to the place he had escaped from, especially when he was so
critically injured with an uncertain recovery.  I know accidents can
happen to anyone and I hoped they needed some better education and that
the scare of almost loosing Vinnie would result in changes in the
household to improve the ferret's living condition.  David's brother
managed to scrape together almost enough cash to cover the money CFN
had spent on Vinnie's care, so after giving them lots of information
and advice (and with some reservations), I sent Vinnie back home.  It
was during this time period that David started posting to the FML.
 
The only other time (other than all the phone messages to report missing
ferrets), I have had personal interactions with the Owings is when I
spoke with David on the phone when another ferret was very ill (I female
named Shadow I think) and they had no money for vet care.  I know they
took that ferret to a vet because I know the vet clinic they went to
and I talked with the receptionist (a friend) at the clinic about the
situation.
 
I have lots of opinions about the situation, but won't divulge them here.
It did want to give the FML a first hand account from a reliable source
about the fact that there was at one time a ferret named Vinnie that was
injured by a dog after escaping from the Ownings and was returned to them
and that they had a second ferret that was under vet care before it died.
 
Elayne  Barclay
Cascade Ferret Network Founder
[Posted in FML issue 5119]