It's a Ferret Life

They'd pre–ferret if unwanted pets got a home

CRY FOR HELP: Centre worker Gemma Barbour with one of the four ferrets still waiting to find a new home. Picture: JULIE BULL

IT'S not unusual for staff at the Lothians' biggest animal rescue centre to be rushed off their feet.

But while the centre is normally overrun by the huge number of abandoned and mistreated pets coming in, the last fortnight has seen staff struggling to cope with dozens of animals going out.

More than 70 of the centre's dogs, cats, rabbits and even snakes have found new homes after staff made an urgent appeal through the Evening News.

And while everyone at the Scottish SPCA-run centre is delighted by the response, they now hope some of their less popular refugees could soon find new owners.

No-one has yet shown any interest in adopting four playful ferrets who have been at the Balerno facility since being found roaming wild more than a month ago.

The rise in re-homings comes after the Evening News highlighted how the Lothian Animal Welfare Centre was at breaking point, with more than 200 animals under its roof.

Staff issued the plea after telling how they had been forced to work twice as hard just to make sure the animals were getting enough care.

Centre manager Diane Stewart said that the rush of people looking to re-home animals was "the biggest in years".

She said: "The response we've had following the article has been immense and is easily the best we have had for many years. We've seen a huge run of people re-homing rabbits and a lot of our reptiles such as snakes have also been taken up. It's pretty much been across the board.

"But the only disappointment is that our four ferrets are still without a new home. It's a bit sad that there has been no interest in them.

"When they were found in the wild it was clear that they were escaped pets, but their owners have never contacted us. Obviously they thought they had disappeared and never imagined that they would end up here.

"They are definitely a niche pet and one that most people don't think about going for, but they are well worth considering.

"They are very intelligent, so they can be litter-trained easily, and they are great with children as they are very friendly."

The charity's spokeswoman Doreen Graham added: "We want to say a big thank you to Evening News readers as we have been inundated with inquiries about re-homing animals over the past few weeks.

"It means we now have space to take in new animals and give them the care that they need.

"All we hope now is that someone will come forward and give our ferrets a good home ."

Since July 28, the Lothian Animal Welfare Centre has rehomed:
• 8 Cats

• 5 dogs

• 15 birds (including budgies and cockatoos)

• 8 fish (including tropical fish)

• 13 reptiles (including corn snakes, king snakes and lizards)

• 4 rodents

• 20 rabbits

• 0 ferrets

• Total: 73