Several things ran through my mind on reading the details.  Forgive the
jumble; still have that headache.  Obviously the loss of the ferrets and
their horrible torture was paramount.  Second was that the woman is in
danger, and any ferrets which remain with her could also be in danger.
After that, I noticed that the owner stands the risk of being evicted and is
at her wallet's end taking care of the survivors.  (WSU vet is
1-509-335-0711 but he's not in today, yet, so left my e-mail and phone so
more info, including how the check should be made out.) It may turn out that
homes are likely to be needed for these little ones.  Can someone arrange
ferret relays again?  Steve and I can't consider taking in any until we are
further away from ECE in time, since it has been only 7 months, but if
someone with a shelter wanted to hold one of the females for us till middle
1998 or so, and transport to N.J.  was possible (Can't be a male because
Steve is terribly allergic to whole male musk.) I'd speak with Steve to see
if he'd be willing to be a "Daddy" to another one then.  (We'd cover spaying
and sponsoring her in that situation.) The mention of almost 150 ferrets in
an "apartment" does make me wonder what the conditions were and how well
they had been tracked.  Sorry, but it does, especially after reading two
excellent articles in STARFerret about animal collectors and the abuses
which often arise from that practise.  If this breeding line is one which
actually makes it into the extremes of old age regularly, then it seems to
me that any shifting (if owner is willing to have them go to new homes) of
survivors able to still breed safely and comfortably should wind up with
breeders since they might then help a number of lines of ferrets live for
extended times.  All this is conjecture, of course, so take it as that.
[Posted in FML issue 2144]