"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]