FERRET ASSOCIATION OF CONNECTICUT INC

We currently continue to operate a dedicated shelter for domestic ferrets. Between 50-100 animals are accepted and rehomed annually.
Questions from the public are answered with unbiased, experienced information. We advocate for educated care of ferrets with our proactive education and training programs for animal welfare professionals. We will continue to work with and offer technical assistance to other small species-specific animal shelters.
We have established a Legacy fund that, no matter what happens to the Ferret Association itself, will be a perpetual respository of funds restricted to the welfare of domestic ferrets.
Finding homes for any ferret that can be released from medical research facilities is our increasing priority. After working with one such organization over the past several years, we can leverage that experience and trust to work with other research laboratories. Our goal is to find loving homes for animals who sacrifice so much to help humans by increasing medical knowledge.
Over the next 5 years, we intend to transfer much of our active shelter efforts to another Connecticut nonprofit animal shelter. We will remain responsive to the public with questions, advice, or emergency rescue services for domestic ferrets. We will also house/rehabilitate animals with special needs.

We continue to accept between 50-75 ferrets into our shelter annually. On average, 18-20 sick & elderly animals are covered by our permanent Foster program, where they live in individual homes but vet care is paid by the Ferret Association. We maintain administration of the Ferret Shelters Directory, an international, searchable database of any shelter that handles domestic ferrets and which is free for shelters to use. We hosted a first-ever Ferret Shelters Forum for ferret shelters to meet, network, and share information. In 2017, we co-sponsored animal control Trainings within the state of Connecticut, which brought together acos to learn not just about ferrets, but care and handling of rabbits, rats, hamsters and exotic birds. Reaching out to large humane organizations, locally and nationally, is part of our process to reinforce that domestic ferrets are unique pets with their own needs. We support the efforts of others to enact state legislation that benefits all animals. The establishment of a Legacy fund restricted to ferret welfare will create a funding source just for ferrets that will exist for whatever their needs may be in the future. Our experience and the trust we've engendered with medical research facilities and shelters that care for ferrets means we are uniquely positioned to connect releasable animals with shelters eager to receive and rehome them.

The Ferret Association of Connecticut is one of the largest and longest-operating humane organizations dedicated to pet ferrets in the United States. We have always worked to assist other shelters and those working to legalize ferrets in restricted areas. FACT has a strong, national donor base that enables us to focus on our mission. FACT is governed by a dedicated Board of Directors and directed by an Executive with over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit world. FACT operates professionally and with integrity.

The shelter has, as of September 2022, accepted nearly 2,200 ferrets. Thus far in 2022, we have accepted 8 ferrets from a medical research facility and anticipate an additional 10 by the end of the year.
Our initiative to work with research facilities in other regions to help ferrets "retired" from public service is growing, with a new facility agreeing to work through us.
The Ferret Shelters Directory has been now fully operational for several years and contains an increasing number of "mainstream" spcas that accept and place ferrets. A Shelters Forum was held in 2016, bringing together small shelters from across the country to learn and network. In 2017, a coordinated effort brought together state animal control officers to learn about domestic ferrets as well as other specialty pets.
In 2023, we will partner with Our Companions, a respected regional animal welfare organization, to transfer shelter services to their facility in Ashford, CT.
The Ferret Association continues to monitor the needs of domestic ferrets and remain flexible enough to respond to other needs as they arise.