Today, members of the F.A.S.T. along with some volunteers and the London
S.P.C.A. went to a place not far from hell.  An old city dump, converted
into a barn and land with a huge sess pool and no running water.It was dark
and dismal with no sunlight today.  We saw garbage and mess almost as far as
the eye could see.  The wind blew bitterly and deep snow covered the ground.
Goats and geese were seen in the distance and the 82 year old man came
forward.
 
I sent one of my members forth to negotiate for the price of the ferrets.
About 15 minutes later, Karl returned to us angry and frustrated.  The price
had gone up.  We agreed to pay and proceeded on the property to remove the
ferrets.
 
I had my camera in my hands, but was not prepared to see what I saw.  The
ferrets were housed in plywood boxes and mesh in the snow.  I lifted the lid
of one of the boxes and found many ferrets bunched together, covered in snow
and laying in wet hay.  There was no food or water in the 2 main cages, but
some goat pellets were in the a bowl in another cage and that was obviously
what he was feeding them.
 
Yhe man approached me and proceeded to tell me that he traded his 2 dogs for
these ferrets and he had no problem selling them for $20 each at the auction
the other day.  I then told him that there were only 23 ferrets and asked
where the others were.  He replied that they had gotten loose and he
couldn't catch them.
 
In the freezing wind, we all gathered around poking and digging through
piles of garbage furniture looking for the lost ferrets.  There were
boroughs, but no ferrets.  The man them dropped a bag at my feet and told me
it would attract the ferrets.  I looked closer at the bag and I saw blood.
It was a whole (feathers and all) frozen home killed chicken.
 
The cold was just too bitter and we had to leave.  If he was telling the
truth and there are still ferrets on the property, we'll get them too.
 
After the last ferret was put into the van, we all stood back and looked
up in amazement.  The clouds opened up, and a bright ray of sunshine smiled
at us.
 
Upon arriving at the London shelter, we vaccinated all the ferrets, clipped
their nails and gave them food and water.  I picked up a small female and
looked at her.  My eyes widned with horror when I noticed that her teeth had
been cut out.  I alerted the others and we checked all the ferrets teeth.
Not one was left with teeth.  They had all been cut.
 
Arriving back at our shelter in Toronto, we settled the ferrets in and made
them comfortable.  It was nice to be home and away from the mounds of snow
in London.  There was a calm in the shelter after a while and we all knew
that the ferrets finally felt safe.  We patted eachother on the backs and
hugged eachother.  All of us feeling fulfilled and accomplished.  It was a
long hard day, but I would do it again any day.
 
The ferrets will need to be spayed/neutered.  Some of them will need dental
surgery as the cut teeth have become infected.  Supplies are needed until we
can get them their final shots.  Litter pans, water bottles, litter and any
financial donations are gratefully excepted.
 
http://users.1st.net/hammock/ferrets/ontario.htm
 
http://home.echo-on.net/~magick
[Posted in FML issue 2173]