Disturbing Update on Lost Ferret, Abu

A number of readers have emailed me asking for updates on the lost Ferret in Adams Morgan, Abu. While not a worst case scenario, there is a disturbing update:

“I do have some infuriating news. As I kind of expected, someone has decided Abu is so cute they want to keep him.

I got a call last night from a woman with a MD ferret rescue group, who had just seen my lost ferret posting on one of their message boards. They were doing a ferret event at the Petco in Owings Mill, MD on Saturday when a guy came in with a ferret matching Abu’s description. He said that he worked down in DC, and found this ferret Friday afternoon/evening when he was wrapping up for the day. He was kind of vague to the ferret people’s question about tracking down the owner, but he apparently told a Petco worker that he had no intention of giving back “Guido” (as he has re-named Abu). His reasoning is that if I’m so irresponsible that I can’t protect my ferret from getting lost, then I don’t deserve him!

This man obviously doesn’t entertain the thought that Abu got out because my new roommate stupidly left a window open, not realizing any curious ferret would push through the screen. This man doesn’t know that I saved Abu from a completely caged life with a homeless woman, and nursed him back from malnutrition and muscle atrophy.

The Petco and ferret people regrettably didn’t get the man’s name or info, but they’re rallying to my cause now that they know Abu’s story, and doing what they can to track him down. What they do know: He is a white male in his 50s with salt and pepper hair. They describe him as “about three feet wide,” and average height. He lives in Pikesville, MD, but was down in our hood for a short-term work gig. They’re not sure what he does exactly, but got the impression it was construction or some kind of outdoorsy skilled labor.

So if you have any readers who employed or saw a crew (with one particularly large middle-aged man) working on their house/building/street last Friday, I’d be very interested in any information that would help track this guy down. I’ll be driving to Pikesville today to paper that whole town with flyers.

If you can give a shout out to the Baltimore Ferret Club, that would be great. They’re organizing to help track him down.

This will all get sorted out and Abu will come home. To quote the Big Lebowski again: “This injustice will not stand, man!””