Our hearts are heavy here at Brevard Ferret Lovers Rescue Inc.  We thought
we would never see the day when, we would have too say," I'm sorry we
simply just don't have room for him/her."  Today is that day.  With 68
ferret's (80% are permanent residents) split between 4 shelter homes (31
of which reside in one home alone) we have too close our doors until, we
can find homes for our special case adoption kids.  Visions of sugar plums
won't dance in our heads when we retire too our beds knowing that, we were
forced to turn our backs on kids like our most recent rescue, Zonkers.
While 7 rescue members were cutting and sewing together the much needed
hammocks and sleeping bags the phone rang, it was a local vet who had
received a small white ferret that a passing motorist had found in a ditch.
In the 6 years we have been together we thought we had seen and heard it
all, broken bones, flea anemia, starvation, paralysis, poisoning and so on
but, nothing could have prepared us for the horror when the carrier was
opened and a very emaciated baby fell into Cheryl's hands.  Hundreds of
maggots were swarming in and out of a gapping wound in his abdomen and
mouth.  DD and Cheryl washed this 8 week old 8oz.  male from head too toe
while the rest of us set out preparing Amoxi drops, warming towels.  I had
never heard a baby whimper and cry as this precious baby did that day.  One
non-shelter member was so distraught that she fled the house in tears.  DD
and Cheryl rushed him too the emergency clinic for a septic cleaning of the
wound.  You see the vet who called us never even examined him since it was
a Saturday and it was closing time (May the Good Lord have mercy on his
soul).  Zonkers was stabilized and returned too a warm clean triage cage
after being spoon fed all the warm duck soup he wanted.  Like every other
critical care baby, he received around the clock care.  When I called DD
the next day too check on his progress she informed me that she had removed
an additional 53 maggots from his wound and that he had large canine marks
on the inside of his tiny thighs that she was treating as well.  Monday
morning Dr. B.  took the little chow hound in right away.  An exam was
performed and we discovered that his protruding teeth were symptoms of a
now healing broken jaw.  The Amoxi drops were replaced with Clavamox.
Today 2 weeks to the day, Zonkers has doubled his weight and ventures out
too play with his new found friends but insists that, his new Mom Cheryl is
in plain sight at all times.  Zonkers will be going home with a long
standing BFLR member in a few weeks.
 
If we were granted but one Christmas wish it would be this,"Loving homes
for our Special Kid's," nothing more, nothing less.  Visit our web page
< http://www2.gdi.net/%7Eferret/index.html > Please call us, Please? DD-
(321)725-0335, Cheryl- (321)259-8019, Marie- (321)639-4504 or Shannon-
(321)264-1784
[Posted in FML issue 2879]