U.S. animal rights group pledges to help if ferrets seized

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This article was published 10/03/2025 (196 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A U.S.-based animal rights group has pledged US$50,000 to help any ferrets rescued from a breeding mill in southwestern Manitoba.

After Canadian animal rights group Animal Justice released undercover footage and allegations of subpar conditions and inhumane euthanization practices at a ferret farm near Melita, the Ferret Association of Connecticut committed to helping the approximately 500 animals, should they be seized by Manitoba’s chief veterinary officer.

“(The conditions) are clearly not good,” said executive director Vanessa Gruden. “It’s disturbing and we care about these little (animals).”

Animal Justice, which advocates for stronger animal protection laws across Canada, shared footage in January it said had been recorded by an activist who went undercover at the ferret mill.

The video shows the activist taking a tour of the farm while posing as a prospective business partner. Multiple rows of cages with ferrets in them, as well as wooden boxes used to euthanize the sick or injured ones, are seen on the video.

The funds pledged by the ferret association will go toward medical care and vaccinations, as well as transporting the animals to the U.S., if seized from the farm.

“The exposure to the outside in those open sheds (shown in the video), that’s what’s the most dangerous in terms of exposure to disease, exposure to wild animals going in and rampaging,” Gruden said.

Ferrets being exposed to avian flu sweeping across North America should be considered, too.

After the footage was released, Animal Justice filed a complaint with Manitoba’s chief veterinary office alleging numerous violations of the province’s Animal Care Act.

A provincial spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing.

The farm’s owner previously told the Free Press he was looking for a business partner because he plans to quit the farm.

The owner did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

At the time, Animal Justice said the operator did not appear to be intentionally harming animals.

On Saturday, advocate group Manitoba Animal Save held a protest outside Petland on Pembina Highway to bring awareness to the ferret investigation and to call on the Chief Veterinary Officer to seize the animals and tighten breeding legislation.

Danae Tonge, an organizer of the group, said farms and breeding operations like the one in Melita have gone unchecked due to decreased inspections by the province.

“There’s licensing, but it’s not enforced,” Tonge said. “There’s no oversight, (which) leads to puppy mills, animals being dumped or discarded on the side of the highway when they’re no longer profitable. So if we get them at the front with all this licensing and really clamp down on that, we would not have to worry about all these animals suffering.”

The number of inspections by the province’s animal welfare branch last year were slashed to 755 from 1,405 in 2023.

The number of tickets issued by the department also declined: 24 in 2024 and 64 in 2023.

The most common types of complaints handled by the animal welfare program involves dogs, followed by cats and horses.

Should the investigation result in the seizure of the ferrets, Gruden said import regulations to the U.S. only require the animals have their necessary vaccinations and, after they cross the border, the association would take them into its care and work with partners to find them homes.

Gruden said the US$50,000 committed won’t help every ferret, but described it as seed money that could be matched by other donors if all 500 ferrets need to find homes.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca