Eleanor wrote:
>Sadly it seems most of us in the MA area got ones with bad teeth,
>older, etc. Many are gone. I have one DMK left and he is from the
>second half of the rescue and has insolinoma, adrenal disease as well
>as lymphoma. My other two DMK's passed last year and year, one from a
>heart condition and the other from cancer. I do not know if there are
>any left in this area. My sis had one left also or is it two. I am
>grateful that they got out of that hell hole and at least got to know
>what love, a warm home and good food was.

Cathy and I were allowed to take 15 back to NY and out of more than
500, it was so hard to choose. I picked the ones who seemed to plead
the most with their eyes, looking up from their tiny cages or wood
boxes; the ones who seemed to try to communicate that they needed help
NOW. It's hard to explain. You're rushing around non-stop all day and
half the night, in heat exceeding 85 degrees with barely time to stop
for a bathroom break, but still, there are always some among the throng
of suffering animals who touch you in a special way. It happens to
everyone. Still, none of us ever forget the ones left behind and always
think, "what if... I had taken that other one instead?"

There was one in the group I brought back home, destined for MAFF -
Rose and Bob German were coming to pick them up and take them the rest
of the way - while I cleaned their carriers before the next leg of
their journey they got out to prance around on a thick quilt, inside
a pen. Of course they were all dancing like mad, to be free to move,
after so long in those tiny cages and then the travel carriers, we all
know what hell that is for a ferret. But one boy in particular just
leapt and dooked and was frantic with joy. When I put him back into
his little carrier he resisted for just a second and then completely
wilted, there's no other way to explain it, it's like he lost his
spirit being put back in that carrier and all the dejectedness and
sorrow came back. I believe he is one who died not long after reaching
Massachusetts and I believe I broke his heart, and that it was once
too much for him. I'll always regret not keeping him here and will
feel partially responsible for his death.

Does anyone know if the McKay family is still breeding?

Oh - I have one girl from the rescue, her name is Maggie, I believe she
went out in the first wave with the Fritzes and then made her way back
to Brenda Johnson's shelter in NY. She's about five and shows no sign
of any illness (knock on wood!) or aging except for a cataract that's
made her blind in one eye. She's very agile and affectionate and
strong.

Susann Thiel

[Posted in FML 7394]