Operation SAFE
December 1997

December 10th - Barbara Ludt, board member of our club & shelter called me and told me of a ferret rescue that was in the planning stages. It seems there was a ferret breeder in Arcadia, Florida that finally discovered breeding & selling ferrets was not as profitable as he first imagined. The breeder wanted out, and he was willing to give away the ferrets.

Between December 10 and December 17, e-mail messages flew between Susie Sherman (Secretary - Florida Coalition for Rational Rabies Policies), Carin Riley (SFFC&R), Paula Bryder (Tampa area ferret lover) and myself, in an attempt to plan the evacuation and subsequent care and handling of the rescued ferrets. All the while, Barbara Ludt was coordinating everything from her home in Green Cove Springs, FL.

On the morning of the 17th, all involved began the drive to converge at John Reynold's place. Carin Riley and Karen Braithwaite from Miami and Paula Bryder from Tampa. Mike Jordan and Lisa Christopherson drove a 15 foot truck down from the Jacksonville area the night before.

Upon their arrival at the designated time, the evacuation team was greeted by the sight of the shed in the picture top left - the ferret breeding area. Inside cage area of the shed is show directly to the left.
 

As you can see,
enough fully equipped cages were brought to transfer the ferrets back to the shelter in style.  The ferrets had never seen bedding before and preferred to sleep under it.

Award Ceremony honoring Dr. Debbie Kemmerer for her work with Operation S.A.F.E. (L to R: Barbara Ludt, Dr. Kemmerer, Susie Sherman)