Manitoba is home to what is likely Canada’s largest ferret mill, a repurposed mink fur farm housing hundreds of ferrets bred for the pet industry. In rare hidden-camera footage gathered by Animal Justice, gentle ferrets are seen suffering in appalling and likely illegal conditions, living in row upon row of filthy, tiny cages.
The ferret mill consists of shoddy sheds packed with caged ferrets, with piles of urine and feces underneath the cages. According to the breeder, ferrets at the facility suffered from diseases such as distemper, having limbs gnawed off by predators, and are killed when they’re no longer useful by being gassed to death in a makeshift box.
Though the owner does not seem to intend to harm these animals, the reality is that this type of suffering is exactly what happens when governments fail to regulate and oversee pet breeders. Animals bred by the hundreds languish in filthy and crowded conditions, out of view from the public as well as authorities.
Watch the Video
David Holden Ferrets in Melita, Manitoba, sells ferrets to pet stores and directly to buyers on Kijiji. The breeder keeps about 500 ferrets, including 200 one-year-old female ferrets used for breeding.
Cruel & Illegal Conditions at Ferret Mill
Ferrets are highly intelligent, inquisitive, and active animals. At this facility, they are kept in groups of one to three in extremely small wooden and wire cages. While the babies are sold as pets, many of the ferrets are used as breeders, and are forced to spend their entire lives in these sheds, in tiny, filthy, barren cages that fail to protect them from severe weather and dangerous predators, and don’t offer them a chance to meet their basic behavioural needs such as exercise, exploration, and socialization.
The outdoor sheds are not insulated, which subjects the ferrets to extreme winter cold and intense summer heat. The barns were filthy, caked with dust, cobwebs, and feces. The cages in the indoor sheds had mounds of feces piled up on the ground beneath them, causing an unbearable stench of ammonia.
Legally, ferrets must be protected from predation and harassment by other animals. But according to the owner of this facility, raccoons entering the shed looking for food have injured more than 100 baby ferrets in the past year alone, even ripping the legs off of their tiny bodies.
A wooden box used as a makeshift gas chamber is used to kill ferrets who are injured or ill, as well as animals who are no longer being used for breeding. The ferret mill experienced a months-long distemper outbreak in recent months, which resulted in the agonizing suffering and death of many animals.
Animal Justice is requesting that authorities investigate and immediately seize the distressed ferrets, placing them in the care of rescue organizations and humane societies.
Breeder Licensing Saves Animals
The appalling conditions at this ferret breeding mill show what happens when pet breeders can operate without licenses and oversight.
Over a decade ago, Manitoba quietly stopped licensing companion animal breeders, effectively leaving them unchecked. Breeders of ferrets, dogs, cats, reptiles, and more can breed large numbers of animals in appalling conditions behind closed doors, because no one is keeping watch. And when these breeders abandon animals or when they’re seized by authorities, animal rescue groups are left to shoulder the burden.
Whether it’s dogs, rabbits, or other small animals, allowing unlicensed breeders to flourish and sell animals for profit is contributing to overpopulation crises across the province.
Animal Justice is urging the Manitoba government to resume licensing dog and other companion animal breeders immediately. The province also needs to strengthen standards for breeders to protect animals from cruelty and neglect, and limit the sale of animals at pet stores, and online via websites like Kijiji. Please join us in speaking up!
