For the January Shelter of the Month we have chosen Rocky’s Ferret Rescue and Shelter of Maryland. Operated by Barbara Clay, a shelter mom that I met through the Facebook Group “Triple F Ferret Farm Discussion and Info“. As one of the moderators of the group she has been a great driving force in providing focus and direction for the group in addition to operating her own shelter.
Barb with a rescue named AquaNet
HRCS: What drew you to ferrets?
Barbara: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was not drawn to them.
HRCS: When did you get your first ferret(s) and what was his/her name?
Barbara: Let’s start at the very beginning. My son Marty, who was ten years old and I were at a three-day outdoor concert. The last day someone was walking around selling kits for $25. I didn’t want any rats, but he persisted, so we got one of those things. His name was Rocky, named after The Rocky Gap Music Festival that we were at.
HRCS: What do you remember the most about your first ferret(s)?
Barbara: The humor. The critter made me laugh out-loud to the point of tears. Way back then there was no internet, and no books on ferret care. I made every mistake possible, as I learned many years later. Rocky had free roam of a three floor old Victorian house we lived in at the time. He popped out of everywhere 24 hrs. a day, much to our delight!
HRCS: At what point did you realize you wanted to rescue ferrets?
Barbara: I had two ferrets and wanted another. So I waited a few years and in 1995 went to a breeder here in Maryland. Nice people with serious bad judgment. Two hundred ferrets were kept in a three-sided building. They were in horrible condition and dying. I pulled out my checkbook, without giving any thought on how I was going to pull this off, and demanded to buy every ferret that still had a breath left in its body, as well as take or destroy the cages. The deal was struck, and that was my first rescue.
What was I thinking?
I did have a nice cinder block building here on the farm that would work. It took me two years to get them all vaccinated, de-sexed, and re-homed. That was it, no way was I going to be a shelter, nope not me!!!
HRCS: Did you have any help as you began your venture into ferret rescue or did you have to figure it out as you went along?
Barbara: One person heard about my effort, became an angel to my new shelter, and kept me going. A wonderful old country boy vet volunteered to vaccinate for rabies and de-sex and treat them all (200+) for cost. That man didn’t know me from Adam, but believed in what I was doing and trusted me. At one point, I was so worried my bill was over $4K, and I told him so.
He responded, “I know you’re working hard on this, don’t worry bout it, give it when ya got it” said in his best Georgia accent.
Again, I made every mistake possible, but learned and moved forward, and never look back…unless I screwed up again, and needed to figure out the present from a lesson that should have been learned from a past mistake!
HRCS: What is the name of your shelter? How did you come up with the name?
Barbara: Rocky’s Ferret Rescue and Shelter. Named after the precious little sable boy that came home with us as I mentioned in the start of this interview.
HRCS: How long have you been operating the shelter?
Barbara: TOOOOOOO LONG!!! Since 1995, and I assure you, I quit at least 3 times a day, every day!!!
HRCS: Can you remember your first rescue? If so what was it like?
Barbara: Like it was yesterday. It was that breeder rescue of 200 ferrets. I failed to mention earlier that it was Spring and most of the jills were pregnant. So it was 200 to start with, and kits popping out everywhere!!! Getting them spayed and neutered quickly was critical! It was pure insanity, me and a friend and over 200 ferrets. There was no internet back then, so finding good homes, and those homes finding us, was the old-fashioned way…word of mouth!
HRCS: How many rescues do you typically see in a month?
Barbara: Different times of the year, different numbers. Throughout the year, I’d say I average 15 a month usually, sometimes much more, and lucky if it’s ever less..
HRCS: You say that different times of year tend to be busier than others. What times of year tend to see more surrenders? Would Christmas be a good example?
Barbara: There are predictable ‘dump’ seasons, such as a month from Christmas, and when the kids go away to college and the parents surrender ferrets to shelters. Also in the spring when nice weather happens I can count on folks bringing me strays.
HRCS: How many ferrets do you currently have looking for forever homes?
Barbara: About 40…hold on the phone is ringing…I’m back. Make that 43.
HRCS: Do you have any favorite success stories?
Barbara: Many, but Elaine comes to mind. I was doing a breeder/hoarder rescue. A very wealthy physician that had an obsession with kits, who once the kits reached six months she sold them for $25 on what would be today Craigslist. She was polluting the world with her mass production and selling intact ferrets. It took three visits to remove 150 ferrets and get her shut down permanently. Oh and they were all free-roam on the huge wing she’d had built onto her mansion. I was ready to leave and there was this little jill walking in circles and falling over. I reached for her, and I was told ‘no’, that she was going to be destroyed. The woman refused to tell me what had happened, other than an ‘accident’. My vet determined she’d probably been strangled. She had neurological damage, was blind and deaf, but so full of the will to live and love which she did for many years after I took her home. She was Elaine. Named after the Seinfeld character. Remember Elaine’s spastic dancing episode? That’s how my girl got her name.
HRCS: How did you hear about this breeder?
Barbara: In scanning the local newspaper ads, I’d come across one woman that kept selling kits for cheap and I knew we had a problem on many levels with those sales.
HRCS: What kind of volunteer opportunities do you have?
Barbara: Love this, I’m kind of unorthodox with my volunteers. This is a farm where we have an outdoor interactive enrichment area that is 40×40. My motto is “We work hard, and party harder!”. I enjoy the kids working with the ferrets, much to be learned there. I’ve worked for years with the incarcerated youth of MD coming here, 7 young men at a time, accompanied with guards. These bad asses always leave here after working with the ferrets wanting to come back and adopt. Stopping the cycle of cruelty starts with learning to respect and love animals. I’d like to think that I’ve prevented a few murders in my time with that program (insert smile).
HRCS: Are there any special volunteers that you’d like to give a shout out to?
Barbara: Oh no, I’d be sure to leave someone out. OK, Jeremy and Cathy Armacost, Debbie Kaminski, Jaye Dansicker, Rob and Jess Loudermilk, Christi Lorenzo, Lauren Snyder, Angela Neiswenter, Ken Weidel, Caprice Turner…Oh crap, I know I’m leaving out some!!!
HRCS: Are you looking for more volunteers? If so, what do you look for in a volunteer?
Barbara: Absolutely. Volunteers are just that, and here at their convenience. The more the merrier. I enjoy a sense of humor, a willing to learn, hard worker, and totally dependable!
HRCS: What’s your biggest goal/dream for your shelter?
Barbara: To continue forever, long after I’m gone.
HRCS: What fund raising events do you do? How many times a year?
Barbara: We have Magooby’s Joke House on Fri Jan 27th, tickets are $15! So, glad you asked!
In the Spring we have Ferretstock, an outdoor event where folks come from all over the country to party. It’s a party, not a show, folks always misunderstand that. It got its name after Woodstock, and me being an old hippie.
Then we repeat the party in the fall, except this time we call it OFEST, after all these years Oktoberfest got shortened to OFEST. These parties are so much fun, and Rocky’s depends on their success to see us through.
HRCS: Do you do any community outreach? What kind of reception do you get?
Barbara: We’re regulars at PETSMART, having been the first ferret shelter as an approved Luv-A-Pet charity by them back in 1996. I do presentations at schools and scouts. We love the reception we get, great funny weird or indifferent, it’s all good.
HRCS: What would you say is the number one mistake most new ferret owners make?
Barbara: Oh thanks, this one is easy! They don’t do the research BEFORE they buy a ferret, and the ferret has to suffer through their learning curve or worse, they realize that a ferret is not the pet for them.
HRCS: Second biggest mistake?
Barbara: Oh you would…let’s see now. AHA, I got it! They never take their ferrets in for annual wellness checkups. Often the first time a ferret sees the vet, if ever, is when it’s a medical crisis, and the vet has no baseline history on the ferret. Bad ferret owner, bad bad bad!
HRCS: What advice do you have for people who are looking at adding a ferret to the family?
Barbara: Research and read everything, and then as a family, volunteer at the local ferret shelter for two hours a week for a month. That will weed out a lot of families in making the wrong decision.
HRCS: What requirements do you have for people wanting to adopt from your shelter?
Barbara: Oh boy, that’s about a book full. The short of that is; learn all you can and tell me all about it, and be willing to continue to learn for the life of the ferret. We are ground zero with ferret medicine, and groundbreaking new protocols are happening all the time. That they can afford a ferret, and that be a part of a lifetime commitment of love and care.
HRCS: Any advice for people thinking about starting their own ferret shelter?
Barbara: RUN! (laughs) I hope, in 2012, to publish such a book.
Start with years of dedicated volunteering at an established shelter and accept a mentor.
Have an on-going fundraising mechanism in place, so as not to interfere with your personal and household income and budget.
Have at least two right-hand volunteers to cover for you when you get hit by a Mac Truck (there’s a joke in there), but expect the unexpected. I was almost killed in a car accident in 2004. Folks I didn’t even know came and spent weeks with me, lived here and not only took care of the ferrets, but took care of me too.
Establish a good working relationship with a vet and establish whether it’s cash per visit, or payments are permitted.
That’s enough for now. I hope I didn’t scare anyone too bad. I love sheltering, make no mistake about it, but it’s not for everyone. Do know what you’re getting into!
HRCS: What would you say is the biggest misconception about ferrets that you’ve encountered through the years?
Barbara: That they’re easy to care for, and that they’re rodents.
HRCS: You have been heavily involved with the Stop the Cruelty Campaign against Triple F Farms Inc, what is is the ultimate goal of the campaign?
Barbara: To close down The Triple F Ferret Farm. Period.
HRCS: The campaign has been in full swing for a couple of months now. What would you say has been the biggest accomplishment so far?
Barbara: It’s hard to say, because we’ve had few tangible results, and most folks, like myself, are inpatient, we want them closed now.
The International attention to the inhumane cruelty by the owners and staff intentionally put upon the ferrets has now reached global proportions via our online petitions and Facebook Group. We have forever tarnished their reputation by exposing them.
Petland responded to our petition to stop doing business with them. We have and continue to raise the question of the integrity of the health of the ferrets used in lab experiments where the very health of the US and the world depend on reliable results. Those results are not reliable; they started with ‘broken’ ferrets. Bad in, bad out. Scary shit, huh?
HRCS: Scary indeed. What are the next steps for the campaign?
Barbara: Because of the new criteria for medical experiments on animals, we will take that angle and challenge those private and government facilities that are buying from The Triple F Farm. We will continue to hunt down the pet stores that sell these ferrets and threaten boycott of the business if they don’t change their source.
HRCS: For those wanting to help you on the campaign what advice do you have?
Barbara: Patience. Bring your ideas to the table. Sign those petitions and share them with everyone you know.
HRCS: What is the simplest thing that someone can do to help the campaign?
Barbara: Do not purchase any Triple F food or any products, including their pet store ferrets, and sign the petitions and share them with friends.
HRCS: What is your favorite thing about ferrets?
Barbara: Simply, they make me smile, even on dark days when a smile is hard to find.
PayPal donations can be directed to rockysrescue@juno.com
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