First let me say that about a month ago there was another incident
involving 16 ferrets seized in Massachusetts. When the call came in, I
was in Atlanta waiting to leave on a business trip to Dubai and the
shelter director was on her way to exhibit at the Providence Pet Expo.
Because the shelter was somewhat full and everyone was busy with other
activities, we really dropped the ball on helping out with the ferrets,
which was totally unexceptable. After giving the situation much
thought, it occured to me that without a plan in place, we were totally
ineffective in handling any future situations.

As a result, the shelter director, a shelter volunteer, and I held a
meeting one night to begin putting together some guidelines to help us
better organize ourselves in the case of a multiple ferret rescue. It
was a day or so after our meeting that the post appeared on the FML
regarding the 16 ferrets at the Springfield MSPCA.

We decided to take our guidelines and formulate them into a handbook
and then use this rescue as a training session. The shelter director
acted as Incident Commander and implemented our "plan". First, she
contacted the MSPCA to arrange a date to pick up the ferrets. Then
carriers were assembled and loaded into the transport vehicle. While
the shelter director and a team leader in charge of triage drove to
the MSPCA to began the process of collecting the ferrets (using the
protocol outlined in our handbook), another team was busy at the
shelter preparing cages and an intake/examination area. When the
ferrets arrived at the housing facility, they were carefully examined,
while an assistant documented the findings. After a thorough
examination and some general admission work, the ferrets were then
placed in cages with their Intake Forms.

We took in 16 ferrets - 2 groups of three and 5 groups of two. One
group of three and one group of two were handed over to South Shore
Ferret Care. Two older ferrets - one age 4 1/2 years and one age 6
years - were put into a foster home. That left 9 ferrets in the MaFF
Shelter. All the ferrets are doing very nicely and are enjoying long
sessions of playtime and lots of kisses and hugs from the shelter
director and her shelter helpers. I see each of them in a new loving
home in a short time as they are each so sweet and loving.

I would like to summerize this with some thoughts for other shelters.
If you don't have a plan in place for a multiple ferret rescue (15 or
more), you will probably find the experience quite overwhelming. We
have known for several years now that we needed a formal plan, but it
seemed to always end up on the "back burner". I can't stress enough the
importance of shelters having a plan or handbook to detail objectives,
procedures and supplies needed to handle a large rescue. If anyone is
unsure how to being such a handbook, please feel free to email me and I
will be happy to email you a copy of our "first draft". I admit it is
a "work in progress", with revisions sure to come with each new
experience, but it is a basis to work from.

In closing, I would like to thank the MaFF Shelter Director (Diddy
Wheeler), the Triage Volunteer (Vikki Walsh), and the Shelter
Volunteers (Rose German, Kristin Baker, and Michele (South Shore Ferret
Care) for the extraordinay job they did with this rescue (training
session).

Phyllis Spy
President, MaFF

[Posted in FML 5940]