It's a Ferret Life

Star City Ferret Club members coordinate rescue efforts for dozens of abused or neglected ferrets.

One ferret bounces across the floor like a Slinky. Another waddles behind on stumpy legs. A couple more pitter-patter through a segment of black PVC tubing while several more sleep piled together in a hammock, five to six in a group, their bodies folded over and under each other like spaghetti in a bowl.

For many ferret enthusiasts, having one of these spunky creatures is not enough. And members of Roanoke's Star City Ferret Club are no exception.

At the club's recent monthly meeting, 19 ferrets hopped and wiggled around in a white wire playpen in the dining room of members Jane and Craig Bradley. Another half-dozen romped in a spare bedroom nearby. And still more hid tucked away in cages, under old blankets and in cardboard boxes.

It's not uncommon for club members to own multiple pairs of ferrets and some members have even collected as many as 16 or 20 under their roofs.

"If one ferret is fun, then two are better. And if two are better, four will be blast," said the club's founder, Debbie Saunders, who calls this multiplying phenomenon "ferret math." She started out with two in 2000, but that number quickly multiplied to the eight. Four more live in a her Roanoke City home awaiting adoption.

This kind of dedication is hardly a prerequisite for membership, but it's often seen by members as an unavoidable consequence.

The 15-member club began a little more than a year ago as a way to coordinate rescue efforts for abused or neglected ferrets in the area. It has since established an informal rescue shelter, Big Lick Ferret Shelter & Hospice.

Saunders said she started the group after hearing ferret "horror story after horror story" and constantly seeing ads in the newspaper for owners trying to give away their ferrets.

"As I started collecting them, I realized that there was going to be a need for a more combined effort," she said. "I couldn't save them all."

To cull members, she posted signs at vet offices and set up a member page on meetup.com, a Web site that helps link local people with shared interests. The initial response was small but enthusiastic, she said, and soon once-a-month gatherings gave way to twice-monthly meetings, weekly visits and frequent phone calls and e-mails. What began as a collaborative effort quickly became a tight-knit circle of friendship among club members.

"We talk on a daily basis and even e-mail several times a day," said Jordan Harris, owner of three ferrets. "I barely have time to read all the things we send to each other."

In the past year, the club has rescued more than 30 ferrets, including six recently from Blacksburg, and adopted 12 out. It is in the process of seeking funds to expand its rescue shelter, building a permanent home and gaining nonprofit status so it can offer tax credits to those who donate to the organization.

But like many other ferret shelters around the country, the club's rescue efforts exist largely in the homes and hearts of the its members.

"The vast majority of ferret shelters are run out of individual homes," said Tara Palaski, a spokeswoman for the American Ferret Association. She attributes it to the lack of federal and state funding for these types of nontraditional pet rescues.

All food, medicine, vet visits and even surgery are paid by the club members who raise money in any way they can: yard sales, bake sales, recycling aluminum.

The bills are not cheap, Palaski said.

Vet bills alone can range from $60 to $100 a year for checkups and vaccinations, said Palaski, who owns 15 ferrets. Multiply that by the number of ferrets, tack on the cost of food, shelter, bedding and toys for each, and the sum can quickly climb into the thousands, she added.

That total does not include caring for illnesses -- there are many that affect ferrets -- and surgery, she said. "I don't add mine up because I don't want to know."

The emotional expenditures can also be taxing on club members.

Several of the club's rescued ferrets suffer from prolonged illnesses, including several types of cancer. On a recent Saturday afternoon, Shannon Beltz-Walter sat cross-legged on the floor cradling Mystic, a 4-year-old male ferret diagnosed with multiple cancers that died last week. Even his ferret companion, Merlin, has also quit eating and is losing weight, said Jane Bradley, who has been caring for the two ferrets.

Using a plastic feeding syringe, Beltz-Walter pushed a milky, moss-colored soup loaded with proteins into the ferret's mouth.

Mystic lapped it up reluctantly.

"This is what happens when they are neglected," Bradley said, referring to Mystic. "This is what happens when people get them because they are cute and can't take care of them."

Joey, another afflicted ferret, suffers from adrenal cancer -- a common ailment among commercially bred ferrets -- and has lost all his fur because of it. He was scheduled for surgery last week but the cancer had advanced so far that he did not survive, Saunders said.

Among the group, stories of neglect, improper care and abandonment abound, Saunders said. That is why the club tries to promote wise pet purchases and careful decisionmaking. And adoption from the shelter comes with stringent requirements, including a five-page application, a house visit and a rigorous interview process.

"We want to make sure they don't get dropped back at the shelter," Debbie said. "We want to make sure the cycle doesn't repeat. They've had enough torture already."