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

01.15.22

by debferret

HOW TO MAKE PUREED CHICKEN

Sometimes, giving your ferret supplementary pureed kibble aka duck soup or soupies is not enough for a ferret struggling with their weight. Most often this is a ferret with health issues; Insulinoma or adrenal disease or perhaps just old age weight loss.

Perhaps you simply want to provide your ferret with a pure protein meal as a treat. You could go out and buy a jar of “Chicken with Broth” from the baby food isle of your supermarket. You will pay a premium price for that tablespoon of food in that jar. Or, you can make your own pureed chicken from scratch and it will be even better than the store bought version. Why? You will be processing the skin and bones along with the chicken to make a more robust puree.

You will need a pressure cooker and a good quality blender.

Place your chicken into the pot and add water to the marked water line. I turn my element on hi to bring the chicken to a boil. Once I hear the steam, I turn the element down to high simmer (3.5) and set the timer for 3 1/2 hours. This length of cook time will cook the bones until they are soft and can be pureed. You want the good marrow in those bones. You want the good fat from the skin. **Remember to remove all the string from the raw chicken.

Set the lid on my chicken and start the boil

This is what the chicken will look like after the 3 1/2 hour cook time

Using a ladle, I can easily break apart the chicken

Remove a bone and test to see if you can mash it easily with a fork

I mashed the bone with a fork and it took no effort. I tested the bone the first time I did my puree as I wasn’t sure how long to pressure cook the chicken to get the bones soft. Once you have your perfect time for your particular pressure cooker, you won’t have to test the bones the next time.

Puree the chicken using the juice to make the puree a nice thin liquid consistency.

I pour the chicken puree in a large bowl as I go so that I can stir up the puree making sure that the portions pureed with bone are fully mixed in with the puree that was mostly meat. Once all the chicken has been pureed and the mixture thoroughly stirred, I pour the puree into half cup or one cup containers for freezing until needed.

One scoop of kibble puree in background and one scoop of the chicken puree ready to be warmed up in the microwave.

One serving of puree combo ready for feeding. If you find the mixture is a little too thick for lapping up, add a few drops of water to thin to the right consistency that your ferret likes.

This batch of 14 containers of pureed chicken is the result of cooking two (2) average sized chickens. One of these containers probably holds the equivalent of 3 jars of “chicken with broth” baby food. You are welcome to do the math and see in dollar and sense just how much money you are saving. I repeat myself, but this chicken puree is so much better because it contains the bone marrow and fats that ferrets need.

This puree saved a ferret named Spud who was starved almost to death. He was within hour or two of crossing the Rainbow Bridge. I started with one teaspoon every hour on the hour. After 48 hours, Spud was up to heaping teaspoon and then he never looked back. Our vet said it was a miracle that his body was able to process the food.

As of today (January 15,2022) I have five elderly ferrets on four meals a day of the kibble/ chicken puree.

This is Flash who is slowly putting weight back on after an illness

01.15.22

by debferret

Oil Based Supplements for your Ferret!

2021 saw the loss of a long standing ferret supplement distributed by 8 & 1 called Ferretone. There is a product distributed by Marshall’s called Furretone but many ferret owners found it too expensive or choose not to support Marshall products.

The hunt was on at the shelter to find an economical supplement. Flax seed oil is a good product but must be refrigerated. I couldn’t use it as I leave my bottle on the counter and it would be a pain to always be opening the fridge. Never mind the ice cold Fax seed oil drizzled on the ferret’s tummy!!I choose not to use Cod Liver oil because of the controversary over the vitamin A content. I couldn’t find any scientific data to prove its safety.

Next on the list was Olive Oil. Olive oil has great anti-inflammatory properties and doesn’t need to be refrigerated. All my ferrets turned their collective noses up at it. Go figure. Even when I cut it with Canola oil, they turned away from the dish.

The next supplement on my list to try was the Grizzly Brand Wild Salmon oil. With over 30 ferrets in my home, I choose the 32 oz bottle and just about had a heart attack when I saw the price. Most of the ferrets liked the taste, but again, the salmon oil had to be kept refrigerated and I kept forgetting to take it out of the fridge with each group coming out to play. My tummy did not like the salmon smell and instead of getting used to it, I started to gag when I used it. So, plan B was to “cut” it with canola oil to make it smell less bad. It sort of worked but I was still struggling with keeping it in the fridge. I left one small bottle out in the shelter room and hoped I would use it up before it had a chance to spoil. Well, it went rancid quicker than I thought! Lesson learnt.

I was in Pet Value looking to pick up a ball for my golden retriever Tucker, when I saw the Thrive brand of supplements. I read the label. Herring Oil! Same great omega fatty acids as the Salmon oil; however, the herring oil did not need refrigeration!!! Eureka. I bought a bottle to try on the ferrets. They loved it. An added bonus was that it wasn’t as fishy smelling and I was no longer gagging. The price point was much much better than the salmon oil and the shelter could easily afford it. I later found out that the Thrive Brand carries a Salmon Oil as well, but again it has to be refrigerated. I’ll stick with the Herring Oil.

I dropped in to Best West where I purchase my dog food and the shelter’s Go Chicken with Grains Cat food. I noticed they have their own brand of Salmon oil at a much better price point than the Grizzly Brand. Their brand has to be refrigerated too.

Last but not least, our vet clinic, Henderson Animal Hospital carries an omega fatty acid nutritional supplement. Our vet suggested we try it on a long term shelter ferret named Lucy. Lucy was acting as if she had Parkinson’s. She was shaking all the time. Her physical ruled out everything. We put Lucy on the supplement and within 2 weeks she was shaking half the amount of time. Our vet recommended we give it to her every 12 hours and within another 2 weeks, she was and is still symptom free. If you have an old and or sick ferret, the Vetoquinol care nutritional supplement may be your best option. Do check with your vet before giving it to your ferret.

There are lots of choices out there. You have to choose the supplement that works for you and your ferrets. I am sure that I have missed some options. If you have one to recommend to us, drop us an email at manitobaferrets@gmail.com.

09.03.21

by debferret

Your ferret’s Medications!

Over the years, I have taken shelter ferrets to the vet for a variety of issues. I am very happy when I come home with banana flavoured Amoxicillin; even better if the ferret received an antibiotic injection of Convena. I’m crying inside if I have to give the poor ferret Metronizodole.

The Amoxicillin dispensing label will state Refrigerate. Easy Peasy! But there are so many other medications prescribed for our ferret that come in little dark brown bottles. We know that the dark brown bottle is because the medication is light sensitive. Got it! The label states the dosage, perhaps the label will say Shake before use or give with food. All good!

Where do we store the medication? Well, somehow most of us over 30 have grown up with the universal knowledge that to keep anything “fresh”, you store it in the fridge!! This mind set carries over to medications especially since the odd medication states right on the label, highlighted in yellow, REFRIGERATE.

Turns out most of us have been wrong, wrong, wrong when it comes to medications for ourselves, and our pets. A recent event brought the issue to the forefront. A foster parent accidently put the fostered ferret’s Prednisolone in the freezer along with the home made duck soupies. A phone call to our pharmacist confirmed what I already suspected. The Prednisolone was spoiled. That was a $25.00 Owie! The pharmacist went on to explain that Prednisolone should be kept away from light, in a cool, dark place. I nodded sagely and said all my medications were stored in my fridge.

Imagine my surprise when the pharmacist scolded me gently. He told me 90% of all medications in liquid or pill form should be kept at room temperature. But, but, “cool dark place” I said; the fridge is a cool dark place. Apparently cool as in you don’t want the medication sitting on the ledge over your stove and against an appliance that generates heat. You don’t want the medication sitting on your work desk under a lamp. You want the medication to be away from direct light, in a cool place. The pharmacist went on to say that a cupboard in your kitchen is a perfect spot; not the medicine cabinet in your bathroom which is a hot, humid place at the start of each day!

So I challenged him; Sulcrate – cool, dark place, Pepto Bismal – cool, dark place, Kaopectate – cool, dark place, cat hair ball remedy – definitely room temperature, bandages – your medicine cabinet. We had a good laugh.

I then spoke with our vet clinic and sure enough all medications should be kept at room temperate, in a dark place. Keeping the medication in the fridge can actually cause the medication to degrade and affects its stability.

The only medication that is weird is the Medicam for Cats. The external packaging saying refrigerate, but some vets will tell you to keep it at room temperature. Apparently it is one of those medications that can handle it both ways.

So, unless the label states in yellow highlight refrigerate, make room in a cupboard in the kitchen for all the medications. I want a white lab coat so I can pretend I run a pharmacy lol. I had to go out and buy a small two drawer cabinet to put all the assorted medications and ointments in for the shelter ferrets. My medications and vitamins are all now in a cupboard in the kitchen!

01.14.21

by debferret

Grooming

While you may see your ferret grooming itself, that doesn’t let you off the hook! There are a few things you need to do as a responsible ferret owner to keep your ferret looking, feeling and smelling good!

Bathing

The most important part of your ferret’s bathing routine is to not over do it, ferrets that bath too often end up with a stronger odor. Over bathing can wash away the oils from your ferret’s fur, which in turn will dry their skin out. When a ferret’s skin dries out it over-produces the oils and the poor ferret gets itchy, which all adds up to one stinky fuzzbutt.

Basically you should only be washing your babies at most twice a year. Bath your ferret in the Spring when he starts shedding his winter coat and in the Fall when he is shedding his summer coat. Your ferret can splash a round in the tub or water dish every day so long as there is no soap involved.

To keep smells down make sure the ferret’s environment is nice and clean; scoop litter daily, dump litter weekly, change the bedding every second or third day and clean entire cage monthly (or as needed, my boys are slightly messier so I do more often). Washing down your cage floors with a vinegar solution helps deodorize and sanitize.

Shampoo options vary, there are even quite a few ferret specific shampoos. Although baby shampoo works most shampoos meant for adults aren’t pH balanced properly for ferrets. Conditioners are not required but they can help the ferret’s skin from drying out, a good option is to use conditioner in winter.

Tips for ferret bath time; make sure water is just over room temperature (or slightly warmer), a ferret’s body temperature is ~ 102 degrees Celsius. At room temperature the ferret will find it cold. Some ferrets enjoy a bath full of water, others like to be able to walk in the tub and some others like ‘showers.’

Ear Cleaning

Much of the odor on a ferret is actually their ear wax, you should clean a ferrets ears every two weeks. Ear wax is red, brown or gold in colour, if you see something else contact your vet (black ear wax can be a sign of ear mites).

To clean your ferret’s ear;

1. Warm the solution

There are many different options for ear cleaning ‘solutions’ including oils or liquid (I’m not sure on the oil option as they generally say to stay away from oils for ferrets). Purchase the alcohol free ear cleaning solution from your vet as your best choice.

2. Scruff

Scruffing a ferret is identical to scruffing a dog or cat – the extra skin on the animal’s neck behind their head where a mommy or daddy would use to carry their babies. Generally this will make your ferret yawn – which is pretty adorable.

3. Put a few drops of solution into the ferret’s ear

This will help loosen the ear wax

4. Gently massage the base of the ferret’s ear

This is to work the solution inside the ferrets ear

5. Moisten a cotton swab with more solution and clean the outer ear by beginning at the base of the ear

A ferret’s ear canal is shaped like an L.

6. Continue using a moistened cotton swab until the ear wax is gone, then switch to a dry swab to dry the ear out

7. Follow up with a treat

Left untreated ear mites can cause many health issues including deafness

Here are some more step-by-step guides; Wikihow, WeaselWords, FerretNews

Nail Trimming

It is very important to keep on top of trimming your monster’s nails – when they become too long they can catch on things. Sometimes in an attempt to pull the nail free, your ferret can pull it’s nail right off! Needless to say that is extremely painful and bloody!I have seen my ferrets get their nails caught then go straight into the alligator roll – this can actually cause a ferret to sprain something.

Tools to clipping nails;

1. Small kitten sized nail clippers

Human nail clippers will not work, ferrets have very small nails that can easily be cut too short, they are also thin enough that you can crush the nail if the blade is not sharp enough.

2. Corn starch or Styptic powder

Accidents happen so be prepared for such. The benefit of purchasing Styptic powder is you know it is sterile, but if you are worried about costs Corn starch works just as well to stop bleeding when nails are clipped too short. Styptic powder will sting, while the cornstarch doesn’t and is what the shelter uses with very good results.

3. Ferret Lax (hair ball remedy) or Salmon Oil/Olive Oil/Flax Oil/Canola Oil -which ever oil product you are using.

These are used to distract the ferret while you clip their nails. I generally place my ferret on their back on my lap, put the Ferret Lax or Oil on their tummy and clip their nails while they lick away.

Where to clip: if you look at a ferret’s nail it has a small red dot called the quick and from there out is clear or cloudy (rarely do they have dark nails, often they are dirty though). It’s best to cut as close as you can to the quick, for stronger nails this is easier, for softer you might have to keep a little more room between.

If you find your ferret absolutely hates having their nails being cut there are a few options; my youngest, Radish, I cut two toes at a time. Sometimes that means he goes first, he takes a break while I cut the other ferret’s toes and finish him off at the end. At times Radish cannot stand even that so his back legs I have to do the next day.

Another option for the difficult ferrets is wrapping them in a towel to keep them stationary without hurting or causing more stress. The towel method works by rolling it around the ferret’s body, keeping one paw and their head loose, while a helper distracts your ferret with their oil treat. *This only works on one ferret in a thousand!

Brushing Teeth

This takes getting used to, be gentle and remember this will probably not be your best bonding moment. You can always ease into this by scruffing and touching your ferret’s teeth for a few seconds. Here’s some general steps to follow, but the best is to figure out what works for each of your little monsters;

1. Wet the baby toothbrush or a baby washcloth and apply a small amount of paste (pet toothpaste, not human)

2. Scruff your ferret

3. Gently brush their teeth, strokes going with the teeth (i.e. top brush down, bottom brush up). Pay special attention to their back teeth as food can get stuck there and they might not notice it.

4. Ending with a treat, this helps with bitter feelings.

5. Now that StrixNB for dogs can be used off label for ferrets. Simply half the dosage. Offer your ferret one dish with regular water and one with the Strix added.

Other links describing teeth maintenance; PetFinder, PetsDotCom.

Ferrets that receive lots of soft treats (i.e. baby food, soft diets and duck soup) should have their teeth brushed weekly. For others generally twice a month is good.

You can also take ferrets to the vet – if you start to see greyish green spots this is a good indication that it is time to do this. Taking your ferret to the vet for a full cleaning (dental prophylaxis) should only be done every 2-3 years.