HELPING HANDS FERRET RESCUE It's animal magnetism

The Lawrence County woman has more than 60 ferrets at her home.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HARLANSBURG, Pa. -- Helen Wojciechowski's love affair with ferrets all started when her son smuggled one into the house.
Helen recalls that she had gone to the Rogers, Ohio, flea market with Michael, who was 17 at the time, and refused to let him buy a ferret there.
When they arrived home, he revealed he had bought an albino ferret and hidden it during the drive back. She told him, "It better never get in my bedroom."
Her initial dismay gave way to interest in the creature, which is related to polecats, weasels and the extinct black-footed ferret.
Then came love.
"He was a cute little thing," she recalled. "I named him Cody."
Within a few weeks, Helen told her son that if he ever moved away, he wasn't taking Cody.
Her fascination with and love for the creatures quickly took over her life. Helen discovered a ferret shelter in Greensburg, where she adopted Joey and Phoebe to keep Cody company. She started volunteering at the shelter and searched the Internet for information on caring for the animals.
Dedicated
Today, with more than 60 ferrets -- 13 of them her own pets -- it appears Helen has given her life over to the long furry creatures who are often abandoned because people don't understand the level of care they need.
Nearly every room of her country home near the Lawrence County Fairgrounds is stacked with ferret cages. She has exhausted her savings and works part time at a dry cleaners to pay for upkeep and veterinary bills.
Her ferret rescue operation, incorporated in 2002 as the nonprofit Helping Hands Ferret Rescue, is largely her own effort, helped along by her daughter, Susan, and a handful of volunteers.
She will accept a ferret from anywhere in the area. Since she started, nearly 200 have passed through her doors.
Her heart goes out especially to the animals carelessly tossed aside when a new baby arrives or when the owner gets tired of his pet.
Ferrets bond with humans, she said, and some become seriously depressed at such abandonment.
One such ferret, D'Artagnan, a 6-year-old, was so traumatized by being given away that he had to be force fed for three months after he came to her. "He'll live here forever," she said, explaining the animal could not stand the trauma of adjusting again to a new home. Helen discourages parents from buying ferrets for children and suggests anyone considering buying a ferret to research the animals first.
Expenses
Helen has found that being a ferret rescuer is not a cheap or easy calling.
When they are sick, she says, not just any veterinarian will do. "They need a specialist."
Because of their special needs to adapt to domestic life, most ferrets will need at least one surgery, which can cost from $200 to $1,000.
A sample of the ailments they are prone to are cancer, adrenal disease and diabetes. Unlike a cat or dog, they cannot fend for themselves outside, but they need three to four hours of supervised playtime outside their cage each day. They usually live six to eight years but can live 15 years.
Despite all this, Helen, who also has pet dogs, cats and exotic birds, says if she knew what they were like, she would have gotten ferrets long ago. The energetic, personable animals "have a way of wrapping their little paws right around your heart," she said.
Caring for such a large number of ferrets takes will, determination and an understanding family. Her husband, Bob, likes the animals, but he has to remember to step over the baby gates that block off unsafe areas and never to put the recliner down when a ferret is in the room.
And he should be cautious about tasting that boiling pot of chicken soup simmering on the stove because it might be Helen's ferret mix, a sort of tonic for frail and ailing ferrets.
"I have no freedom," Helen says cheerfully. She wakes at 4:30 or 5 a.m. each day when she and her daughter begin a round of feeding and cleaning, which must be done before she goes to work. Other days, ears are cleaned and nails clipped.
But she has no resentment. "I love them. These are my kids," she says.