There is a not so happy ending to the story of the ferret that got reunited
with its owner this week in Albuquerque.  It seems the young man didn't
listen when one of our ferret rescue contacts told him not to leave his
ferrets unsupervised in the yard.  His little ferret, Sage, got away again
and went to the same backyard where we found him last weekend.  Only this
time, the dogs got to him first.
 
I got a call at 4:30 a.m.  from the same woman who found the ferret the
first time.  I wasted precious time looking for the kid's phone number,
which I had thrown away.  I finally got in my car and drove over there.  The
woman's daughter was comforting a ferret who had thrown up a little bit of
blood and couldn't move but was still alive.  When I picked him up to take
him to the hospital, he went limp and I believe that is when he died.  I
wonder if I should have tried something else like put a board under him
first -- he clearly had internal injuries.
 
Then we found out that the 24-hour hospital nearby doesn't have a vet
between 1 a.m.  and 7 a.m., which is a real shocker to me because I thought
they were there all night.  The other 24-hour hospital doesn't treat
ferrets, but they took a look at him, anyway, and he was already gone.
 
I can't express how angry and sad I am. We could have found a loving home
for that ferret.
 
                                Linda
[Posted in FML issue 1606]