Dateline: September 27, 2001

Ferrets fit the bill when looking for pet  

Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

If your family is looking for a pet, Terrilynn Jordan has just the thing for you – ferrets.

The cuddly creatures are “joy in a physical” form, Jordan says.

“They’re rambunctious and playful. They learn their names and even simple commands.”

Jordan has raised ferrets for about two years now and is working with a friend – Deborah Kelly – in Amarillo to establish a non-profit ferret shelter there.

Recently, a woman in Salt Lake City was found to have 260 ferrets living in a two-bedroom condominium. City officials shut her down, and word was spread across the nation that the local shelter was faced with destroying the animals. Ferret lovers responded, and 15 of homeless ferrets found their way to Amarillo.

Jordan still has two that need homes.

Another ferret, named Precious, was found in an Amarillo high school recently. It had apparently survived the entire summer alone in the building, Jordan said, and was malnourished and nearly bald. Today, Precious has put on some weight but is still lacking in the hair category.

Jordan says ferrets make good pets and are social but not really destructive. Although most of the ferrets from the Utah condo have found homes, she says two shelters – one in Michigan and one in Santa Fe – will be closing soon, and those animals will need new places to live.

For more information, contact Jordan at 874-0330 or Deborah Kelly at 359-9159.