Page 15

PART ONE.

Lagooni's story began at about 9pm on August 15th 2001.

A chap phoned me to say he had found a dark ferret in a housing estate in Binley, Coventry. One of our members had lost a
polecat ferret a couple of weeks previous, so I rang him to go and check this ferret out. Steve rang me about an hour later to
say it wasn't his ferret and he had no idea what the creature actually was. He brought the animal here and we set the carrier
on our work surface. One of my dogs just had to jump up and see what was in the carrier, the little animal screamed none
stop. I put a coat over the carrier to calm it and decided to ring the RSPCA to come and identify our"Creature from the black
Lagoon"

An RSPCA inspector came along at about 10.30pm but had already told me when I phoned that if this little animal proved to
be a mink, he would have to destroy it. I was in a panic having maybe condemned an animal to death.

The Inspector said that the creature was nothing like any mink he had been called out to and said he thought she was a cross
breed of some sorts. Phew!

Lagooni was very thin and was covered in ticks and fleas, she also had sores where the ticks had bitten her, quite a sorry
sight.

Steve, our member helped me put a mobile pen up in the conservatory for the night, because she was so obviously not a ferret I
was not going to risk putting her near our ferrets but she was a kit in need of our help.

The following morning I went to see her and she had got out of the pen and was hiding behind the tumble dryer. Now we had a
problem , how was I going to get her back in? Lagooni was a wild animal of sorts so I was very wary about picking her up. I
decided to put some steak in a carrier and hope she would walk in and she did with no hesitation.

My friend's partner worked in conservation and came to see her and while she looked minkish he said he wasn't sure because
of her size.

Anyway, we made a beautiful pen for Lagooni where she has lived happily for nearly 2 years ,she was also spayed at the
beginning of this year.

Lagooni loves my company and will come onto my lap, she takes food from me and calls me when she wants company with
continuous " PEEPS" . Her pen is alarmed and secure for obvious reasons.

We noticed from the onset that she loved water and would submerge herself in her water bowl. I gave her a bigger bowl and
now she has a baby bath. Watching her swim is just wonderful especially when she is on her back with her paws in the air
like an otter. Lagooni loves her floating toys and spends long periods retrieving them from the water when I throw them in.

She will sit nose to nose with Cinders our cat for ages and is not afraid of any of our other cats or dogs. She will also watch
the ferrets playing in the pen next to her with great amusement. We now know that mink are solitary animals so do not
worry that she is on her own.

She is fed on ferret complete food with her daily treat of fresh fish, liver, steak or fresh rabbit . After she has eaten she will
always bathe to clean herself.

Lagooni is about as big as a jill ferret with a beautiful glossy black coat and pure white markings down her front, WHILE
SHE DOES LOOK LIKE A MINK , WE HAVE NEVER REALLY BEEN SURE TILL NOW.

*************************************************

PART TWO

On April 14th 2003 two burly policemen came to my door to investigate a complaint made to DEFRA (Department for
Enviroment Food and Rural Affairs). Someone had reported me for keeping mink.

I allowed the police to search my premises and they were more than a little surprised to find one, spayed, tiny animal that had
never been identified as a mink. They listened to the above story and were even more surprised that she had been here nearly 2
years. They were just a bit cheesed off with all the fuss and asked me to write to DEFRA and tell my story, which I did that
day.

I received a letter asking if I would agree to a wildlife adviser coming here to identify Lagooni, of course I agreed as I had
nothing to hide. A very nice chap came and although he knew Lagooni was a mink he couldn't get over how small she was
compared to the females he studied on the river banks. He checked her pen to make sure it was secure and that it was built on
concrete so she couldn't dig her way out. He was very satisfied with what he saw and went off to make a report for DEFRA.

In return I had a nice letter with a form to fill in to apply for a licence to keep LAGOONI.

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING A MINK FOR A PET AS IT IS AGAINST THE LAW UNLESS YOU HAVE A
LICENCE - THE LICENCE (WAS) Ł185 PER YEAR AND EVEN THOUGH YOU APPLY FOR THIS LICENCE THERE IS
NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL BE ISSUED WITH ONE. LAGOONI CAME HERE BY CHANCE TO OUR
DELIGHT, BUT WE WOULD NEVER HAVE CHOSEN TO TRAP ONE AND KEEP IT HERE. IT IS BAD ENOUGH
THAT PEOPLE ARE TRAPPING THE WILD POLECAT ( AN ENDANGERED SPECIES) AND ARE TAKING THEM
FROM THEIR ENVIROMENT TO BREED WITH FERRETS.WILD LIFE ADVISERS ARE EXTREMELY SAD AND
ANGRY TO HEAR THIS GOES ON IN THIS COUNTRY, AS I AM. LEAVE WILD ANIMALS WHERE THEY BELONG
.There is no fee for a licence at this time Jan.2005.

Well I filled in the form and sent it off and my husband Arthur phoned the lady concerned at DEFRA, who was very nice.

Today, June 21st my licence arrived, so Lagooni can now live a life without fear and with lots of love here, until she dies.

We have been tipped off as to who reported us and we feel very sad for these people who risked this little creature's life. We
know they have animals themselves but shouldn't have the priviledge. If we had not agreed to having a licence Lagooni would
have been destroyed and for what ?

Arthur and I would like to thank all our friends who have supported Lagooni in this matter.

To the people who reported us the only thing you achieved was to force us to use Ł185 of the rescues funds that was meant for
the neutering/spaying and medical treatment for the ferrets coming into the rescue.SO YOU HAVE TAKEN FROM THEM
NOT US. But no matter, it just means that Arthur and I and our wonderful team will have to work that little bit harder to
raise more funds and we will.

We had a mink cub brought in in 2004, the finders thought it was a ferret kit. He lives with Lagooni and his name is Shashone.
My licence was ammended as I now have 3 mink. It is always better to let the authorities know if you have these creatures to
save any comeback in the future.