So about a year agothe shelter where we acquired our beasties started raising money in earnest to move out of a cramped, tiny space with very little ventilation and old cages and into a brand-new space two doors down with an office and a playroom and ample storage for all the stuff ferrets need — food, litter, bedding, medicine, etc. I’d asked you a couple of times for help with various programs — online shelter funding contests, Jewel matching programs — so I thought you might like to seehow it all turned out:

Tribune photo by Chuck Berman

Ninna and Luchis peeked briefly at passers-by Sunday, sniffed at the
flurry of activity around them and quickly decided that burrowing into
soft fabric in their spacious cage was far more satisfying.

A pair of female ferrets, Ninna and Luchis were among 89 animals who
settled into new homes Sunday as 35 volunteers with the Greater Chicago
Ferret Association carefully moved them from a cramped 670-square-foot
shelter in west suburban Lyons to larger quarters three doors east.

“The move itself has been over a year in planning,” shelter director
Steve Malec said. “For the association, it’s a move to expand and get
bigger. From the shelter perspective, we did this move to ensure better
quality of animal care. It gives us more space for volunteers to work,
and it’s a more healthy environment for the animals.”

Each ferret was shampooed, towel-dried and placed in a pet carrier for
transport to new cages that accommodated two ferrets apiece. Because
ferrets have strong bonds, Ninna and Luchis, as well as other pairs,
went through the process together.

Moving day was high-larious. 89 wet pets at once, people everywhere, “where does this go?” “I dunno, put it anywhere,” bits of last-minute construction still going on, a bucket brigade of carriers up and down the street. The new cages were so exciting for the animals; they raced up and down the little ramps and rearranged all the bedding the volunteers had laid out, peeked out at everybody, and then got bored and, no matter how much chaos existed, just crashed out while the humans, hopped up on excitement, were bouncing off the walls.

Good times.

A.