>From:    Susie Sherman <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Florida emergency
 
Barbara Ludt, members of the South Fl.  shelter, Paula Bryder, and myself,
to name a few, have banded together to help shut down a breeding operation
in Southern Central Florida and we need to rescue 54 ferrets.  Please help
us!  We need your assistance in making this rescue a successful one!
 
>This gentleman, who has 54 breeding ferrets, has decided that he can no
>handle them and will taking them to an auction to dispose of them as
>quickly as possible.  Contact has been made with him and he will be
>releasing them to our group, hopefully, sometime next week.  Dr. Kemmerer
>has agreed to temporarily house these ferrets and she will perform the
>medical procedures - spay/neuter, descenting, heartworm check, and initial
>evaluations.
 
How about saving a bit of money by skipping the descenting part of the
veterinary treatment.  I have 48 ferrets - all living indoors - and none of
them have been descented.  The problem of the strong ferrety smell is solved
with the neuter - and don't forget all animals have their own particular
odour - the scent glands are normally only used when the animal is
frightened or as a defence!  Also, due to shortage of funds, only 2 of my
jills have been spayed, a vasectomised hob solves the problem, however, I
know that a vasectomised hob will not help in your situation as you want to
re-home the ferrets.
 
The jills, if they are elderly, could possibly have hormone injections to
bring them out of season, not an ideal solution but perhaps it would be
better than surgery for them.
 
I still have to get 3 of my hobs castrated yet, one will be going for his op
this week and the other two aren't showing any signs of coming 'in season' -
fortunately the jills living with them aren't showing any signs of oestrus.
 
This year, in the UK, seems to have been particularly bad for over-breeding.
Some ferret keepers in the UK still seem to think that they have to breed
from their jills every year, they've never heard of 'jill jabs', spaying or
vasectomised hobs - I *HATE* these ignorant keepers.  Most of the rescues in
the UK try their best to educate keepers but most our pleas fall on deaf
ears and the poor ferrets are the ones that suffer.  I have heard about one
chap who has been left with 40 kits this year - all the kits are caged
together, they are getting nippy due to lack of handling and no doubt they
will soon start interbreeding:-( Gawd I really do hate some breeders!  I
reckon this keeper will have learnt his lesson an won't get into the same
situation again but he still has a problem about what to do with the nippy
kits!
 
I wonder if this year's overbreeding has anything to do with one idiot
spouting off about how much money he could charge for a so called 'designer'
ferrets.  Yes, UK rescues have taken in their fair share of failed
'designer' ferrets!
 
I am still trying to get some financial assistance with my vet bill from the
RSPCA - the local area office keeps getting me to collect stray ferrets but
does nothing to help with the cost.
 
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http://www.btinternet.com/~sheila/ferrets.htm (updated 12th Dec)
Bolton Ferret Welfare & Newsletter Editor of the
National Ferret Welfare Society of the UK
The opinions expressed by me are not necessarily those of the NFWS
[Posted in FML issue 2156]