The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Authorities removed about 200 animals - nearly half of them dead in freezers - from a home in the 200 block of N. Lynnhaven Road early Tuesday, police said.
Animal Control agents, responding to a complaint of ferrets living in poor conditions, found more than 100 ferrets, a dog, a bird and three cats "living in deplorable, unsanitary and crowded conditions," according to Margie Long, a police spokeswoman.
Most of the animals were suffering from dehydration and malnutrition, she added.
Carcasses of a rat, cat, otter and 89 ferrets were found in freezers in the home and garage, according to Long.
She said 61 of the rescued ferrets had to be euthanized because of their poor health, more than 15 are in Animal Control custody, and about 23 with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The animals will be held pending a court hearing.
There is no limit to the number of ferrets someone can own in Virginia Beach, but they have to be properly maintained, Long said.
The homeowners could not be reached for an interview. A man who came to the door angrily repeated, "Go away!"
Pinewood Garden residents were shocked at the number of animals removed.
Bob McCrea, 77, lives across the street. He said he knew of just two ferrets.
"They tell me there's 90 dead in there, but I can't believe it," he said as he stood in his yard and watched news crews near his house. "It's unbelievable."
William Ellett lives several houses down from the residence. Ellett, who has lived in Pinewood Garden for almost 40 years, said Animal Control has been called to the home before.
"Before she built her barn, she had some other shed, and the urine smell was horrible," said Ellett. "We couldn't keep our windows open."
Teresa Lamarche, community outreach director for the Virginia Beach SPCA, said ferret breeding can quickly get out of hand.
"People don't understand what's required to care for them."
Lamarche said the SPCA normally doesn't take in ferrets because they should be left in the wild but called this case an exception.
Jennifer Jiggetts, (757) 222-5104, Jennifer.Jiggetts@pilotonline.com
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Einvb sounds like you know
Einvb sounds like you know this person. You seem very passionate about this, however it does not excuse the fact that what she did was illegal and again 23 MONTHS
Attention poster Orion....
While I agree with most of your comments, I must correct one thing. Ferrets are in no way related to rodents. They are carnivores are related to otters, wolverines, minks, ermines, sables, ect. There WAS a rat in the freezer, too, so there was one rodent, actually.
tooo funny....
I like the excuse that she was trying to help them by taking in so many. My first thought is if she had 30 children at her house, collecting them, because people didn't want them and she was trying to give them good homes, well a ton of people would be pissed. No matter the intention you have to look at the "REALITY". No matter where the "HEART" is you have to look at the CONDITIONS... Previous issues with Odor, previous issues with the law = a bad situation no matter the intention. I'm not an animal rights nut like PETA but have to know when to say NO. So even if the other side of the story was "she's helping them" well she's creating a hazard for herself, the animals, and others by her intentions... now, is it cold in here, i feel like i'm in a freezer...
Thanks debi!
Of course, I don't know if you'll see this because they started doing the staff approval thing again... It'll probably take a day or so to post, if at all.
Ferrets are intelligent and have feelings
I have had ferrets for years. Each one has it's own distinct personality and they do have feelings. They are as intelligent as dogs and cats and are very loving. It is very difficult to obtain ferrets that haven't already been fixed so I doubt that this lady has been letting them breed. Also, as others have already expressed, they cannot survive in the wild. Ferrets have been domesticated for centuries and were used on the early ships to maintain pest control. Rats and mice won't go near them. I'm sure that this lady regrets what has happened and feels the loss of these awesome little fuzzy animals. I hope that the survivors find good homes. I have three and know how much it takes for them so I cannot take any more. They have a 4 level cage that has to be cleaned daily and they need to have at least an hour a day to run around outside their cage while they giggle and play their little games of tag, hide and seek and torment the dogs by hiding their toys.
Most of you are wrong?
Yea, right. Look, I'm sure she didn't mean it on purpose, but you hear of several of these stories each year. They find 100 animals in someone's house, and half of them are dead, blah, blah, blah. At some point, a family member or somebody needs to intervene. Even if her heart is in the right place, you can't justify those living conditions.
p.s.
I hate michael vick, too!
BB
....calm down.
foolish comment comparing ferret case to Michael Vick
I absolutely hate Michael Vick with a passion. He is a sick and evil man along with every other individual who fights and tortures dogs. My hatred of Michael Vick has absolutely nothing to do with his color or his income. While we still have very little information about this ferret case, there is no evidence that these people delighted in torturing the ferrets, making them kill each other, or brutally murdering them for not being good enough. It is animal cruelty but it's animal cruelty that started with good intentions but led to neglect of pets other people threw away, not cold-blooded torture of trusting companion animals purchased and bred for the purpose of abusing.
One more thing....
As dumb as I am about ferrets, even *I* know they're not wild animals. If they were they wouldn't be sold as pets....would they -- especially here in Virginia. That individual with VB who was quoted as saying they should be left in the wild should be fired.