Update on July 19 Post About Possible Hoarder Situation in Ohio On July 19, a post appeared regarding a possible hoarder/breeder (always a bad combination) situation in Ohio. If you don't quite remember the phrase, "pooping out maggots," appeared in the post. That should ring a bell. Horrors! We just wanted to advise everyone that Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter, which operates out of Cleveland and serves northeast Ohio, worked with Dee Gage from West Michigan Ferret Connection (who received the original contact), to communicate with the source of this information and to obtain the identity and the address of this breeder. We contacted both the Stark County Humane Society and the city of Alliance, Ohio, health department, and they sent out a humane officer and sanitation inspectors, respectively, to investigate the complaint. We also had a volunteer visit the place under the pretext of purchasing a ferret, but they were unable to gain access to the house. This person claimed that it was evident that someone was home, but no one would answer the door. Both the humane society and the health department report that the situation is under control. The source claimed that there were at least 13 ferrets in the home that she could identify (she swore there were more), but the health department officials found only 5 ferrets and 2 dogs on the premises. There had been an issue with roach infestation (absentee landlord!), but the health department says that a licensed exterminator has been called in and the premises are now habitable. Supposedly, the animals were kept away from the roach poision, but we can only hope. In addition, the breeder's son is seriously ill, which has kept her away from home for quite of bit of the time. The person who called this situation to our attention received an email from us, telling her about the findings of the humane society and the health department. We have not heard back from her. We have no reason to question the reliability of this source, but either the conditions were remedied in a hurry, or the person, for whatever reason, was exaggerating. We suspect the former. On a better note, our source told us that the woman does obtain vet care for her ferrets and that she is fairly well known in the area as "the ferret lady." The ingredients for scary stuff are still present. And, we are by no means naive enough to think that something nasty might not have been going on here. The humane society said that they have flagged this address for periodic follow up; let's hope that they mean it. At any rate, that's all we can tell you about the situation at this time. We know there has been continued interest in situation from the ferret community, both locally and network-wide, but we wanted to wait until we had something tangible to report before posting. Thanks to everyone for their care and concern. Deb Daugherty Benson President Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services Cleveland, OH [Posted in FML 6428]