by debferret

Dramatic Rescue of 86 Breeder Ferrets in 2025

The Manitoba Ferret Association No Kill Shelter Executive would like to give a detailed account of the recent intake of 86 retired breeding ferrets from Dave Holden; the Melita breeder accused of running a ferret mill.

*You are welcome to Google the expose by Animal Justice.

I (Deb) have had ongoing contact with Dave H. for the last 15, maybe 20 years. He would occasionally reach out to our shelter see if we would take some unsold ferrets to re-home. He was always pleasant and accommodating. When COVID hit, Dave was in touch with me expressing concerns that he wasn’t able to sell his baby ferrets and asking for tips on how to reach the local markets and internet sites. Honestly, I wasn’t much help other than providing a sympathetic ear.

Dave continued to struggle with his sales and in the fall of 2024 he contacted me asking how he could advertise “his operation/his herd” for sale. He couldn’t really afford to keep going and was looking for a buyer. He advertised on Kijiji and elsewhere on line. Again I was not much help. Dave kept saying he didn’t want to euthanize all the ferrets. He really wanted to find a buyer; he was going broke taking care of them.

He phoned me telling me 2 young men were coming out and were interested in buying his operation. He was happy and relieved. As we now know, it was 2 men from Animal Justice who mislead Dave to access his operation and secretly film his operation. Animal Justice filed a complaint against Dave and his operation. *As of February 2026; over a year now since the complaint was made and we have not heard that the case has been resolved/closed.*

The Provincial Vet came to his place based on the complaint filed by Animal Justice. I want to make note at this point to say that as of September 25th, 2025; 9 months after the fact, not one ferret has been removed by the Provincial Vet. Dave’s cages and barn are in need of repair; that is a fact. Dave can not properly care for so many ferrets since his only employee died during COVID. Dave knows he has to cut back on his numbers since he can’t seem to find a buyer for his stock.

OK, so you have the general overview.

The MFA has never gone on record to speak out against Dave. Why? Because we wanted to work with Dave to have him release ferrets to us. It was more important to save some ferrets than to condemn him. There is always 2 sides to a situation. I had built a rapport and respect with Dave. On January 21, 2025, we took in 14 intact males. We agreed to pay for the neutering and Distemper vaccines from his vet. These boys were scheduled to be euthanized as Dave couldn’t afford to keep feeding his excess unsold stock. These boys were just past 6 months old and had never really been socialized. Kerry and Fred stepped up to come over and do some socializing of these boys. Then we received another 12 boys, 7 months old; again, unsold excess stock. That’s the first 26 ferrets retired to us.

26 Handsome, nippy boys. To see them come out to play and run through tubes, splash in water dishes and just be ferrets was worth all the fear bites and blood letting Kerry and Fred dealt with. We advertised within our membership for homes for these boys. They needed experience ferret owners and the continued contact and support of the shelter. Most were placed. Not going to lie; several of our Executive stepped up and adopted more than one to give them loving homes. It became dangerous to drop in to my place and “look see” at the available boys! I am happy and grateful that all these boys have loving homes.

Meanwhile Dave decided to release more ferrets to us and we were able to accept them only because the Connecticut Ferret Rescue had publicly offered to financially help reduce his numbers. Vanessa from the Connecticut rescue started networking on US shelters that would be willing to take on retired male and female breeding stock. In May we took in 5 retired females just coming out of season needing to be spayed. We took in 20 intact males. I love the aroma of ferret but 20 intact males were pushing the limit lol. The males were slowly coming out of rut; thank goodness as it made it easier to handle them. Kerry and Fred sustained many hard bites and I kept a supply of Band-Aids on hand. 50 ferrets in the house! Paul and Dana were able to bring us wood pellets by the truck load. If you came to visit; you were asked (ok, I begged) to take home a bag of poop to throw in your garbage can as mine was full days before garbage pick-up!

Just a quick note here to state that although there is no limit on the number of ferrets you can have in your home; 50 ferrets is not a manageable number long term. This was a 4 to 6 week window of caring for them and it was exhausting work. As a main foster/shelter space I had the space, the cages, the food, litter and most importantly the help to manage it.

It was amazing how quickly most of the ferrets became socialized. The logistics of transporting ferrets across the border was complicated. Vanessa made most of the arrangements and she made it look easy, but we all know how much work goes on behind the scenes. Vanessa had a contact within Grant Park Animal Hospital and she was able to negotiate with them to do a Wellness Exam, give them each a Distemper and Rabies Vaccine and provide a Health Certificate in order for them to cross the border. Our job was to get said 25 ferrets to the Clinic. Kerry, Fred and I managed to pull it off without a hitch! 24 ferrets crossed the border without any issues. One of the little girls had a stroke and she spent her last 3 days being cared for and loved by Kerry and Amber. She got to know love, soft blankets and tasty soupies. Chicago Ferret Rescue was instrumental in taking in and arranging for spaying and neutering. Several of the girls made it as far as Connecticut to Vanessa’s place. It should be mentioned that the breeding females weren’t in good physical health. They had very poor/rotten teeth from eating a mush. Bear in mind these girls were just 3 years old and “spent”. Just like the mink farms, the mush is plopped on the top of the wire cages and the ferrets have to pull the mush down through the bars. The boys had only slightly better teeth; slightly!! That is the nature of any large-scale breeding operation and it is not acceptable.

If you have followed us on Facebook or follow Connecticut Ferret Rescue; you will see how everyone pulled together to give these ferrets freedom to be ferrets!

On August 15th, Dave agreed to turn over another 20 intact males and 4 females coming out of season. So, the process started all over again. Vanessa worked her magic! She reached out to VI FERT—Vancouver Island Ferret Education and Rescue Team. (VI FERT is now known as the BC Ferret Rescue Society). Cheryl agreed to take 9 males. Unfortunately, the Calgary Rescue—FRES was full and unable to take any ferrets. The Ottawa ferret rescue was drowning in surrendered ferrets and was transporting theirs to Atlantic Canada rescue. So once again, Vanessa networked and found a couple of US rescues that had room for the Canadian ferrets! Ferret Dreams Rescue and Frisco’s Friends Ferret Rescue.

Through this whole process, I was amazed at how supportive our US Shelters were in helping save Canadian ferrets. Politics aside, the ferret community is an incredible group of people who know they may not be able to save them all, but by God, we will save as many as we can.

This new group needed their Wellness Exam, Rabies Vaccine and Health Certificates. Fred and I had given the group their Distemper Vaccines from the donated supply left over from the initial group seen at Grant Park Animal Hospital. So, in tandem, Kerry, Fred and I went to Grant Park Animal Hospital. This time, they neutered the 9 boys going to BC. The other 15 ferrets will have their spays and neuters done in the US where it was being covered by some wonderful vets. (I don’t have all the info to thank specific folks)

*Before anyone questions why we didn’t use our own wonderful vet clinic (Henderson Animal Hospital); I inquired but was told this was too massive an undertaking for them and by then Vanessa had secured a vet clinic and seeing as she was paying the bill; I respected her arrangement. The staff at Grant Park Animal Hospital were excellent. Welcoming our stinky, nippy bunch and so very glad to be able to help save these ferrets. **Grant Park Animal Hospital has continued to offer their services to our shelter as needed and we are very grateful to have vet clinics that are available to support our shelter needs.

On Wednesday; Kerry gave up family vacation time and made the long trip to meet up with Cheryl and Christine from VI_FERT in Calgary. Calgary supported our ferret rescue by hosting the 2 teams as that ferrets and humans could get a well deserved sleep before completing their journeys the next morning.

The following Friday, yup you guessed it. Kerry with a co-driver this time; hats off to Dan who raced around the city between Tuesday and the following Wednesday to get his Passport updated! Off they went ; driving across the border to meet up with Don Haney and his daughter from Frisco’s Friends Ferret Rescue . The group met in Rapid City South Dakota. It took them 13 hours to get there. They unloaded and headed straight home. They were exhausted by the time they came to my place to drop off the travel cages and for Dan to pick up his car. 26 hours of non stop driving! What an incredible job they did!

So, to date we have taken in 26 young adoptable boys, re-homed 8 breeding females and 40 intact males. Gave the little girl named Nova 2 of the best weeks of her life playing and just being a ferret and 3 days of around the clock love before she gained her wings.

I am very proud of what the Manitoba Ferret Association No Kill Shelter has accomplished. We did the unthinkable; re-homing 74 ferrets that would have been euthanized.

Then on Sunday, September 28th, Dave texted that his friend was coming to Winnipeg and bringing 12 intact males if I wanted them? Save another 12, I said YES! Dave was very angry with all the bad publicity and had said he wasn’t going to work with us anymore. I’m glad that he chose to reach out to us.

Timing is everything! Paul has just delivered another 15 bags of wood pellets. I still had 3 full bags of Kirkland food. Just needed to rope Fred and Kerry in for more socializing! Vanessa from Connecticut Rescue was informed and she is networked to get shelters in the US to take this group.

Grant Park Animal Hospital has once again stepped up to help with the vaccines and paperwork! We took pictures of most of the ferrets that came into care and we took some videos too. We uploaded them all to our FLCK account for viewing. Way too many to include in this post.

We did rack up some hefty costs taking in these ferrets. The only reason that was possible was because of a silent donor who gifted us some funds. That being said, we still need replenish the funds in case Dave decides to release more ferrets into our care. We will keep saving the breeding stock and unsold adolescent ferrets until all the shelters say no to taking in any more.

If you would like to help us financially, you can send your donation by E-Transfer to

manitobaferrets@gmail.com. Please identify funds in message as “support for retired ferrets

04.17.17

by debferret

Ferret In Hand or………….. In Cage or……………………….

There has been a rule at my home for many years. Ferrets in hand or ferrets in cage before any outside door is ever opened. Never assume your ferret is still asleep under the bed or behind the TV when you open your door to the outside world to bring in the newspaper, put the garbage out…… whatever!!!

We implemented this rule after one of our shelter ferrets did a walk about without our knowledge! In other words he escaped the house! My hubby Guy had let our 225 pound English Mastiff outside to go potty and right back in. One Eyed Jack was supposedly asleep behind the TV. We had both giggled as he dragged a stuffy with him to sleep with behind the TV.

One Eyed Jack was a stray found by the river and brought to us. He had tangled with something and his one eyed was beyond saving. We patched him up and he became part of our shelter family. Now he had escaped from his original owners so we should have known he had a bit of the wonderlust in him!

So, Ari went potty and came right back in. We all settled down to continue watching TV. Guy heard this scratching sound. I didn’t hear anything. Ari was doing what mastiffs do best, snoring up a storm. Guy muted the TV and insisted he heard scratching. He got up and went to the front door.(We had not installed a second door – screen door at that time). He opened it and in waltzes One Eyed Jack!

OMG and other assorted expletives. It seems One Eyed Jack had snuck out with the dog. He had his little walk about in the back yard, then went under the gate, up the driveway, up the sidewalk, up 4 very high cement steps and was scratching on the door to be let in. We hadn’t realized he was out. Had he not scratched to be let back in, it would have been at least an hour when our show ended before we would have realized he was missing. If our screen door had been added back then, would Guy have heard the scratching?

We dodged a bullet that day. Today I dodged another bullet. I had Zipper, Zora and Tank out playing in the bedroom. They spent some time playing in the bedroom, then I was giving them a little free range time before I put them to bed. I looked out the living room window to see two crows sizing up my small birds at the feeder. Yes the law of nature is eat or be eaten but not on my watch and not today when I was already not having the best of days. I quickly opened the front door and the screen door, stepped out on to the front steps and shooed the crows away. I closed the screen door; remembered my rule and looked out the screen door window to make sure no ferrets were dancing on the steps. All clear. Good! I closed the screen door and the front door. It’s cold today!

About fifteen minutes later I decided to round up the 3 furries and put them back to bed. Tank was sleeping in the sleep sack back in the bedroom. Zipper was sleeping in the ladybug back in the bedroom . I can’t find Zorra in the bedroom sleep areas. I start with the bedroom and start looking. No Zora. I close the bedroom door and move on to the shelter room. I checked everywhere in the shelter, no Zora. I then checked their cage. Yes, sometimes, she puts herself back to bed and maybe I am panicking for nothing. Nope, not in the cage.

Oh God, I opened the front door to shoo the crows away. My mind screams no way she got out! She is not in the house, so yeah, she has to be outside. Great! 30 minutes head start at least! Where to even start! I am ferret sitting these three; what will Colleen say when I tell her I’ve lost her little girl! By now I am in tears and fighting a panic attack. Find ferret and then have your damn melt down!

With squeak toy in hand I opened my front door. Did I mention that I have a screen door and then my front door. I look down as I reach for the screen door handle and there she is! Zora was huddled in that small gap between the front door and screen door.

Relief flooded over me. Thank god she was tiny enough that I hadn’t squashed her between the doors. I guess when I peered through the screen door to see if any ferrets had gotten out on to the steps Zora must have been right at my feet. I didn’t see ferrets on the front step, so I closed the front door without looking down.

Zora washed my face with kisses and I snuggled her so hard her eyes could have popped. No bad news to give Colleen. My world righted itself once again. Now that the crisis is over, let me share my rule with all you ferret owners who think it can’t happen to me because I’m always careful- yes it can happen to you! I have run the main shelter for 20 years and you’d think I would be smarter!……………………FERRET IN HAND OR FERRET IN CAGE BEFORE OPENING ANY DOORS TO THE OUTSIDE!

By the way, just so you all know, a stray ferret was surrendered to our shelter on Saturday evening. The ferret was found wandering a rural property and has yet to be claimed! Now this is Easter weekend with many family gatherings that started on Good Friday right through to Easter Monday. Lots of get togethers, people coming and going! Somebody out there is bawling their eyes out while searching for their ferret. I just hope they call.

Deb, shamed ferret mom

03.24.17

by debferret

Irwin’s Tail by Kerry P.

Irwin’s Tail

I apologize for the pun, I don’t claim responsibility for it. I found this tale fully formed in my head. I think a mischievous little fella must have stashed it there before he scampered off across the rainbow bridge. He knew I’d be needing it.

Our ferrets Loki and Selene have little stubs of tails. Their momma thought they were too perfect so she cleaned a little off the ends so as not to overwhelm us. Our foster ferret Sophie has a fuzzy little tail that spikes out like a pipe cleaner when she gets excited, which seems to be the majority of the time. It is the perfect tail for her fuzzy little body.

Our other foster Irwin had a scrawny tail. It was a perfect match for his scrawny little body which nicely offset the most handsome little face that ever sat atop a ferret’s neck.

Each of them is the best ferret ever. Logic dictates that this isn’t possible but they exist within the domain of ferret math which doesn’t give a toss about logic!

Irwin and Sophie didn’t get along with other ferrets, Loki and Selene included. They each knew the other was the perfect amount of ferret and they must have thought it selfish to require any additional company. We tried to merge the two pairs into one happy business but they were not having it. Others had tried before with equal results. They had a good life at the shelter but luckily their shelter momma Deb in her wisdom decided we were worthy of their love despite our relative lack of experience.

The two pairs carved out a piece of my heart and each ferret nabbed their own half of that. Through the magic of ferret math, each one ended up with the whole damn thing!

It is a lot of work juggling ferrets but we managed, gating off one pair and swapping them now and then to keep things interesting. Add in our crazy cat Luna and it can be utter madness. Every second has been worth the effort.

We lost Irwin today to liver cancer. He would have suffered through the pain to keep sharing his love with us and his girl but we could not ask any more of him. He lived his life to the end with a joy only a ferret or someone touched by the love of a ferret could know. In the end we took on some pain so we could release him from his. We will never replace him in his girl Sophie’s heart but I hope we can ease her pain by giving her some of the love he stashed in our hearts.

I’m not writing this to share my sadness. Irwin left a ferret-shaped hole in my heart which will never disappear but he filled my heart to overflowing with love before he left. In time, the sadness will fade and I will have the memories to keep me going. At the height of my pain I wished we had never taken him in so I would not have to feel this way but I know I would be the poorer for never having known him.

Irwin left an itch in my brain so I would scratch it out into this story. Sometimes the perfect ferret is the one quietly waiting in the back of the shelter for someone to realize they need him more than anything in the world. They might have a stub of a tail or they may need a little bit of extra care and attention but they will pay that back a hundred times over.

03.06.17

by debferret

Ferret Fur Everywhere!

Our ferrets blow their coats twice a year. Around the end of February into March, ferrets will start shedding that beautiful thick luxurious winter coat. Your ferret may “blow” his coat in one or two days coating everything in sight with fur or he may decide to spread the shedding over several weeks with tufts of fur left behind in his hammock.

Cheech getting a good brushing from Fred

Ferrets become very itchy when they are shedding. Using a soft brush on your ferret helps to loosen the fur and give them a good scratch at the same time. You don’t want your ferret inhaling all this loose fur! Worse, you don’t want your ferret to groom himself and ingest all this loose fur. If he licks and ingests too much of his own fur, he can give himself a life threatening blockage requiring major surgery and a huge vet bill.

I have tried many types of brushes over the years and thanks to my friend Colleen, I have fallen in love with this round cat brush. This brush fits nicely in the palm of my hand. Made of soft rubber, it contours the ferrets body nicely. It’s easy to remove the accumulated fur and of course very easy to wash with soap and water. **Don’t leave this soft rubber brush lying around after brushing. Your ferret may decide to chew on it because it’s soft rubber and give himself a blockage!**

soft rubber brush for short haired cats

I have discovered that this rubber brush is also great for getting that thick mat of fur off the split hammocks. I have already worn out a washer and dryer due to an accumulation of ferret fur that doesn’t seem to get caught by the filter and gets into the guts of the machines. I had a split hammock that was “loaded” and I certainly didn’t want to spend an hour picking the fur off of it. One or two swipes with the brush and the hammock was relatively clean of the fur. Wow!

split hammock with “some” fur

excess fur removed prior to washing

condensed mat of Cheech’s fur in the hammock

mat of fur removed from inside split hammock

After using the brush to get as much fur off the hammock; I will wet my hand and pass it over the bedding and get the fine fur that the brush didn’t pick up.

Tiko, a gorgeous sale male came to the shelter in the late fall. He adjusted to shelter life while he awaited his forever home. I was getting to know him. On litter box changing day I inspected his litter box as I do for each and every ferret. It is the best and quickest way to determine if your ferret is sick. When I looked into the litter box I immediately saw a strange poop! Red flag went off. I removed this poop so that I could examine it in minute detail. It was not your normal fecal matter. It was a poop containing nothing but FUR!! Tiko was a ferret that groomed himself lots and seeing as it was shedding season, he had ingested all his loose fur. I was very lucky that he was able to pass this blob of fur. He could have died as I would not have suspected a blockage and may not have gotten him to the vet in time! Tiko could have easily been looking at major surgery to remove a blockage caused by his own fur. Tiko is a ferret that you cannot forget to give hairball remedy on a weekly basis. The hairball remedy ensures that his fur is “greased” and can pass easily through his system!

poop made up of ferret fur

poop dissected revealing it’s all fur

02.16.17

by debferret

Jill – Part 2 – Lies challenged

I’ve blogged about Jill. Jill and her bonded partner Jack were adopted by a young lady. Within a week there were complaints of the ferrets being itchy and possibly having fleas etc etc. As explained in my previous blog; eventually she called me to tell me that Jill was dying and she needed to surrender her because she couldn’t afford vet bills. She refused to return Jack at the same time. Jill was not dying; she was blowing her coat and only had her soft undercoat. She was a nice solid weight. It took some time, but eventually Jill was sent to live at our satellite shelter with Bridget and her new ferret friend China Girl. Jill had found love again.

Well, there was so much more “dirt” I could have shared but, I took the high road. Turns out, that the young “lady” has been busy telling “alternate facts” regarding the adoption. How do I know this? Turns out she began bad mouthing me to a current member of our association telling our member all about this terrible adoption. I was so happy to here that this member defending me and put this young “lady” Kayla in her place. Our member did not know anything about Jill and Jack, she just knew me and how I conduct the shelter business and it wasn’t adding up! This member uses the services where this young lady Kayla works. I would sure love to be a little bird watching what happens if she runs into the Kayla now that she has all the facts.

So, let me now share the facts with the corresponding documentation. We are a non profit charitable organization and so everything is and has to be documented. It made it so easy for me to challenge her lies! I have blacked out her last name and address and phone number – if I was a mean person I could let the whole world know what a liar she is. It’s not slander when you have the documents substantiating everything.

Adoption processed May 2, 2017. Receipt issued. Jack and Jill a bonded pair discounted to the adoption fee of a single ferret – $80.00 plus membership of $35.00 for a total of $115.00. Received $120.00, and gave her the $5.00 difference. Now most folks have donated that $5.00 to the shelter, but she wanted her change.

Jack & Jill’s Adoption Receipt

Jill adoption page 1

Jill Adoption page 2

A week later I received a call from her complaining Jack and Jill were scratching a lot. I made suggestions about changing the laundry soap, using vinegar in the rinse and their cigarette smoking outside away from them. I made my first offer to gave her the adoption fees back and take the ferrets back. Offer declined.

The complaints continued so on May 11th, they met me at our vet clinic. At our cost, I had the ferrets rechecked by the vet. Our vet gave them both a clean bill of health except for ear mites. I paid for Revolution. The vet bill came to $125.55 (with my discount). Do the math. I am now $5.55 in the hole on this adoption. Not the point because our shelter isn’t about profit but about placing ferrets in good homes. If we break even, we are happy.

Jack & Jill re exam May 11th

Kayla and her mom were not happy with the vet’s assessment. In front of the vet, I offered to take the ferrets back with me right then and there and refund them their money. Kayla declined, stating she loved them but she was sure Jill was a sick old lady and no way was she 3 year old. I suggested that they take the ferrets to a vet of their choice for a second opinion. Kayla and her mom again refused stating they didn’t have the money to waste on that! They knew what they knew, I had sold them an old and sick ferret. Jack of course was ok.

I let a week or so go by and then I sent off an email asking how things were going and telling them I looked forward to seeing them at the Spring frolic in June. I watched for them at the frolic but they did not attend.

The next time I heard from Kayla,it was July 7th around mid morning. Kayla was calling me from her doctor’s office . She was crying and told me that Jill was very sick. She had stopped eating. She couldn’t afford vet bills, so she wanted to surrender Jill but she didn’t want to give up Jack. I told her that as a bonded pair, if Jill was coming back Jack would have to come back too. The conversation became heated and at one point she had her mother call me and that conversation was not pleasant. My integrity, my vet’s integrity were both called into question. Kayla did not have gas money to bring them back, whining about me living all the way across the city from her! Funny how the drive to adopt them wasn’t too far!

I contacted our President to advise him of the situation and to request that he accompany me when I collected the ferrets (at this point I was still hoping for both). At this point I was expecting to pick them up around 5ish. I put the vet clinic on standby that I may be bringing in a sick and dying ferret. I didn’t want Jill to suffer and if she needed to be euthanized, I wanted to make sure they would have an appointment time for me.

Kayla kept pushing back the time I could pick them up. I have kept the texts from that day on my cell phone.Kayla had gone out for the evening and was now stating that she wasn’t dying, just had stopped eating. Fred and I ended up collecting Jill just after 10 pm that night, July 7th (notice it’s 2 months). She showed me that Jack was healthy (that was the final negotiation I could work out). Fred and I drove two blocks and then took pictures documenting Jill’s condition. She was a perfectly healthy weight, bright eyed with her soft undercoat and no guard hairs.

Jill Surrender form, page 1

Jill surrender page 2

As soon as the vet clinics opened, I contacted a different vet clinic and took Jill in as an emergency. I asked them to do a full work up health assessment and to provide documentation. This was another expense that was totally unnecessary! As Fred and I expected, the vet pronounced her a perfectly healthy middle aged (approx. age of 3 years) ferret.

So, Kayla! If you must tell people what a horrible person I am. You are welcome to tell everyone how you dislike me the person, but DO NOT MALIGN the shelter. At least state the facts!

I did not adopt out an old sick ferret.

You did not return her within 2 weeks.

I did not refuse to return the adoption fee; offering several times to return the full fee for both ferrets.

I did not end up giving you back half the adoption fee.

I am happy to hear that Jack’s health did not decline over the loss of his beloved Jill. I do believe that you love Jack and that was why I chose to keep our interaction quiet and move on. It’s too bad you couldn’t do the same.