[3-part post, combined into one]
The Story behind the Anonymous Breeder
Dawn's post inspired me to respond with our rescue's recent experience
with an "out of control breeder".
I have no doubt that this "anonymous breeder" Dawn speaks of is the
very same person we have been dealing with since February. Part of the
problem , Dawn is that one of us, is being lied to. Breeding of these
ferrets was NO accident. I can assure you of that. These people are
breeding intentionally and apparently intend on continuing. Why, I
have yet to figure out.
We too have not mentioned names as these people have been
acquaintances/friends over the past few years, known for their beautiful
ferrets European/polecat mixes and seem to be very nice people. We
happened upon the out of control situation when visiting their new
house one day in February. Instead of a friendly visit my rescue
co-ordinator and I found conditions so horrendous, that we were
absolutely speechless...... yes gentle friends.....Kim Fox was
SPEECHLESS. Witnessing conditions of this kind were a first for me. It
was offensive to every sense I posess. The ammonia smell about knocked
you over......and living beings existed in this day after day after day.
I will share a few details but the story is the same from one "out of
control" situation to the next. Poo piled inches in tiny cramped and
filthy cages. No food, no water and no socialization. Eyes staring out
from behind bars silently begging.......help me. The girls so frantic
we literally could not restrain some of them enough to even clip their
nails. Our hands and arms were bloodied from bites and scratches. The
hobs were amazingly gentile...I imagine they had resigned themselves to
the hand that they were dealt. "This is it for me", they must have
thought...a tiny cage, a ripped up hammy and maybe we'll get fed once in
awhile. Love lingered at the end of the list of things they would not
live to see in their life time.
We spent the next 5 hours cleaning and taking care of everything we
possibly could that day.... for the sake of the ferrets. While gentle,
they shook and clutched when handled. These animals were terrified of
people. Poop encrusted overgrown nails, poo in food dishes. Poo was
EVERYWHERE. I know we moved out 80 pounds of filth that day......along
with four fuzzy faces that now had a chance at a real life. I cried on
the way home for the ones we had to leave behind. We continued to help
twice a week while running our own rescue for the next several months...
this was no easy feat, let me tell you! We all experienced respiratory
ailments upon leaving the breeder's house. All the while, gently
encouraging the anononymous breeder to "retire" some more kids, so we
could get the adoptables in to loving homes
I will never forget their first weasel war dance as they discovered the
freedoms of play time.
When the anonymous breeders went on vacation, we took care of all of
the ferrets. On one of our visits I found a little girl with an ear
encrusted so badly, I couldn't tell what the problem was until it was
cleaned out. A hot pink hematoma lay beneath with a bite wound on the
back of her ear. She was taken out and taken to the vet. The "anonymous
breeder"was notified and never expressed any interest in taking the
ferret back....or reimbursing us for the vet bill for that matter.. A
couple weeks later, this little girl...Ivy...sprouted a belly. 10 days
after that, a litter of babies was born. Bundles of fuzzy joy for us...
had she been left at the anonymous breeders, they would have been lucky
to even be alive. I was so excited you'd have thought I was the one that
had given birth. At that moment, we all became rescue grandmoms & dads.
While the breeders vacationed, they had left several (about 7) pairs
mating in cages. I remember her telling me that the longer you leave
the pair together, the more babies they will produce. In the mean time,
the ferrets they had turned over to us were vetted and altered , and
most were adopted. Dawn's post made me recall one ferret in particular
who was affectionately known as "One nut". ( The V hob that was
"accidentally placed") I was told by the anononymous breeder that "one
nut" had an undescended testicle. Therefore, the vet proceeded with
surgery appropriate for a crypt orchid ferret. His findings however were
very unusual. He never did find an un-descended testicle, but instead
found a nodule at the end of the spermatic cord. He did not proceed in
looking further for said un-descended testi as he didn't want to risk
injury to the ferret.
A couple weeks later the anononymous breeder called to tell me that she
"accidentally" gave me her V hob. "Gee, I hope you haven't had him
altered yet." Obviously, they did not know one ferret from the next to
have made an error of such gigantic proportion. This oversight could
have very well cost "One Nut" his life. In the months that followed we
continued to help with the ferrets and took in as many as the anonymous
breeder would turn over to us. When the birthing season arrived we also
took in a litter of 8 with the momma. It was certainly a more suitable
alternative than the one that was suggested by one of the breeders. I
believe his exact words were "drown them". ...and certainly better than
the conditions they were in. Day old babies nursing in the hammock of
a filthy cage hanging inches above a hard floor..I could only wonder
how many of babies had previously fallen to their deaths. While the
anonymous breeder loaded momma into the carrier that day, she bit her.
She was reprimanded by being slapped in the face and then slammed into
the floor three times. Horrified and sickened, I remained silent for
fear of causing a problem that would result in not getting the momma
and kits out of there. The whole way home, Abby the momma stared at me
through the bars of the carrier, her little pink babies gathered around
her....vengeance brewed in her eyes. I knew I would get bit while
handling her.....what I didn't know was that bite would land me in the ER
with cellulitis in my hand. Dear God, what has this animal been through?
As Abby's litter grew we found several of these beautiful mini teddy
bears with spinal deformities and c shaped tibias in their legs. This
is one of two or a combination of two situations. Breeding ferrets with
known defects in the blood lines & or over crowding in the womb. Yes,
let's leave the hobs in for as long as possible to produce the largest
litters. To hell with the ones that come out deformed.
While working with this breeder, someone reported the situation to animal
control. The breeder reported to them that she had been working with us
to get her numbers down. We have been in touch with the officer
regarding the situation as a result and they will continue to monitor
this person but essentially, they have done nothing for the animals. As
long as this person complies with breeding laws and obtains a license,
they will be allowed to carry on. The law is obviously not working for
the animals. It works for the person's right to breed them. As long as
they are kept clean, have enough room to lay down, stand up and turn
around, the cage is big enough.
I could go on and on with what we have been through with the anonymous
breeder. Our rescue has taken in approximately 30 ferrets with them and
are working to place them as well as the babies. Since February we have
put a lot of work, time & money into this situation. Judging from what
other folks have told me, this has been going on for quite some time.
The person continues to breed out of control, and dump off her "retireds"
when she is done with them. I am at a loss as to how to put an end to
these "out of control" breeding practices. While we are helping the
ferrets by getting them out of there and into homes, we also seem to be
enabling the person to continue breeding ....for whatever reason that
may be. Does anyone have any suggestions on getting these people to
stop breeding???????
Kimberly Fox
Director/Rescue Mom
Somethin Up My Sleeve Ferret Rescue
http://companiontalk.terrabox.com/SUMS-Rescue.html
[Posted in FML issue 5338]
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