It started with a phone call.

Phillip Stump needed help. He has his wife, April, the founder of Angel Babies Ferret Rescue of Bremerton, had been rescuing and rehoming ferrets in Kitsap County for many years. But now April was critically ill. Caring for 28 ferrets while also going to work and spending time at the hospital with his wife was taking its toll. 

So he reached out to Kitsap Humane Society. Employees immediately went to work creating a plan to help the ferrets of Angel Babies and, ultimately, the Stump family out of a difficult situation. KHS put out a call to volunteers asking for assistance in caring for the ferrets. The response was impressive.

Within days, a team of KHS staff members and volunteers had visited the ferrets, discussed rehoming possibilities with Phillip and settled on the plan of holding an adoption fair to find forever homes for the family’s precious “angel babies.”

An even larger group of volunteers and employees transferred the ferrets to KHS just a couple of days later. The shelter’s training center became “ferret central” as volunteers bathed ferrets and evaluated their dispositions while a staff veterinarian gave each one a checkup.

Meanwhile, other KHS staff members (and even their children) pitched in by sanitizing cages. In fewer than five hours, all the ferrets were set up in clean enclosures, munching on fresh food, playing in their hammocks or curling up for a nap.

As with all of the shelter’s success stories in progress, preparing to rehome these rescues has been a team effort made possible by the passion and dedication of hardworking volunteers and employees. The rest is up to you, Kitsap County ferret lovers. These angel babies are waiting for you.

Learn more about the KHS “ferretopia” adoption event this weekend.