"In 2003, I was invited to a pet expo in Huntington, Indiana, by the
humane society there. They had this ferret they wanted me to take. He
had been put in a "weekend drop box". Rebecca McFarlane went with me.
She took this ferret & said, "Dee, I can't believe he's whole. He has
tattoos in his ears." Those tattoos were ticks. This 5-6 month old
whole ferret was starving and infested with ticks. He had no bit of
pink on him. He was practically dead. We picked all the ticks we could
find, took him back to Reb's, gave him a bath, she whipped up some Duck
Soup. He inhaled it, he was so hungry. I think he slept all the way
from Ft. Wayne to Grand Rapids. I put him in a cage & he went into
instant rut. Got him neutered and fell in love with him. Indy is my
sweet baby boy and he's spoiled rotten. He loves his momma. He's
neutered but not descented and he can clear a room when he poofs. He's
on the cover of the State of Michigan Dept. of Agriculture's Ferret
Health Advisory Sheet." And, with those words, Dee Gage sums up her
favorite ferret memory, which was also payback.
In 1996 Dee gave herself a birthday present -- a pair of ferrets named
Beau and Nilla. The silver male and DEW female are credited with saving
her life. "Those two little ferrets gave me something to live for and
so have the personal ferrets I've had after Beau & Nilla. After all
they've done for me, I feel I owe it to them to do what I do with my
rescue, promotion and education." Dee works with the Midwest Ferret
Fellowship and serves as a member of the State of Michigan Dept. of
Agriculture's Companion Animal Advisory Committee.
When not working with animals, Dee is quite eclectic in her interests.
A trip to the Pantages Theatre in Toronto to see 'Phantom of the Opera'
allowed her watch her all time favorite play as well as the people
there -- two favorite activities rolled into one. Or you might catch
her relaxing with jazz in the air -- a long way from the music of her
heroine, Cher. Cher? "I've admired her since I first saw her and Sonny
at a summer teen dance place in 1966. I admire her style and her
stamina."
To relax she spends time with her Significant Other, or her family --
son Kurt and his wife April, who are the parents of her twin grandsons,
year old Sydney and Zachary. Or reading her favorite author, John
Jakes, who "has a wonderful way of making history come to life."
Check out the West Michigan Ferret Connection of Grand Rapids, Michigan
on www.petfinder.com. And, come hear Dee talk to us about the Humane
Society at the Portland Symposium on June 22. In the meantime, Dee can
be reached at [log in to unmask]
--
renee :)
It's amazing how much can be accomplished if nobody cares who gets the
credit!
Ferret Emergency Response, Rescue & Evacuation Team (F.E.R.R.E.T.)
http://www.ferretemergency.org
[log in to unmask]
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org
[Posted in FML 5589]
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