About Motor City Ferrets

Opened 2000, Motor City Ferrets is a private, no-kill ferret shelter & rescue organization.  Located in Hazel Park, we serve the greater Detroit metropolitan area.  Browse our site to learn about the Shelter, meet the critters up for adoption, get health & care information, find supplies, or locate a vet or ferret-sitter! 

7/25/23:  We currently have 33 critters in the Shelter.
Read on below for info on pandemic operations

An old man was walking along a beach after a particularly high and violent tide had receded, leaving thousands of starfish stranded above the waterline to die. Up ahead of him, he saw a youth repeatedly bend down, stand, then fling something into the waves. Coming closer, he saw that the youth was tossing starfish back into the ocean.  "Why bother?" the old man told the youth. "There are thousands here. You can't toss them all back before they die. You can't even toss a small fraction of them back in time. What you're doing doesn't matter."  The youth pondered what the man said for a moment, looking at the starfish he held in his hand.  
   
"It matters to this one," he replied, and threw it back into the water.
 

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Gandhi

Rescue ONE until
there are NONE!

If you or someone you know plans to surrender a pet to a municipal type shelter, please click here.

Please don't breed or buy 
while pets in shelters die!

Ferrets rescued to date: 1261

Pandemic Operations

VISITS:  In The Before Time, we used to have Open House events most Sundays.  Open House dates are for folks to visit the shelter to play with the critters, bring their ferrets for a playdate, or if they're interested in adopting, to have a first visit after applying to adopt.  We closed for normal visits mid-March of 2020, and unfortunately it looks like we won't be opening up for social visits for the foreseeable future.  

ADOPTION:  we are having people in to adopt, but we're still facing some serious limitations in the world of ferret adoption.  The most pressing concern is for folks who don't have ferrets already, and thus don't have an existing relationship with a veterinarian.  Most area ferret vets stopped taking new clients during the first two years of the pandemic, and things aren't much better today.  We've had quite a difficult time finding vet care for our critters, and that "we" includes our larger ferret family, trying to help clients where we could - it's been a difficult and trying time for ferret parents.  So if you're new to ferrets, best practice is for you to setup a relationship with a local ferret vet before you pursue adoption, so you'll be ready to go!  

If you do have a relationship with a ferret savvy vet, and you're fully vaccinated, you may apply to adopt via the "Adopt" tab above. If you're invited for an adoption visit, you'll need to properly mask up for your visit.  We always want to have the whole family visit, especially when families have younger children.

If anyone in your household is immuno-compromised, here's info you should know: we've been extremely careful all through the pandemic to keep Covid out of our household. Ferrets are an excellent Covid vector, so we always require masking, and - since they've been available - vaccinations. However, Shelter Dad Alex is a grade school teacher. While his school has been better than most with pandemic precautions, his job does make it more likely that Covid will come to our home on any given day. We've also continued to take in surrenders all through the pandemic. FYI for those who need to know!

We're always here for advice, just remember to always CALL in to the shelter if the need is urgent!