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Animal rescuer builds ferret playground at her home

BBC Rosie with ferretBBC
Rosie Stubbs been rescuing ferrets for more than 17 years

A woman who has rescued ferrets for the last 17 years has built a new outhouse complete with slides, hammocks and a makeshift pool for the animals.

Rosie Stubbs, from Bilsthorpe in Nottinghamshire, was inspired to decorate her 35 sq ft outbuilding after seeing the cramped conditions some ferrets live in.

The 31-year-old runs an animal sanctuary and rescue centre, which is home to more than 40 ferrets, five pigs, two cocker spaniels and a Welsh cob pony.

She collects items from car boot sales and flea markets to keep the animals "entertained".

Ferret
A ferret lounging about in Rosie's 'hammock'

Mrs Stubbs has worked on the playground, which is inside an outbuilding at her home, for almost five years.

So far, she has collected slides, tubes, baby-bouncers, fabric for "hammocks" and plastic shells and containers she fills with water to make "pools".

She first "fell in love" with the animals when she lived on her dad's farm in Papplewick, Nottinghamshire, and kept them as pets.

As well as rescuing them, she breeds the Angora species of ferrets.

She said: "It upsets me to see some of the conditions ferrets are kept in.

"Over the years, people have left them on my doorstep as other rescues are full and they don't know what to do with them.

"I've picked them up when they've been neglected in the woods, and sometimes they need medical attention."

Mrs Stubbs uses her social media pages to advertise the ferrets and find them a new home.

She added she wanted her space to "accommodate as many as possible" while they were waiting to be rehomed.

There are just over 40 at her home in Bilsthorpe currently and she is open to offers from those who would like to adopt one.

ferrets
The ferrets on the grounds range from being just a few months old to eight years of age

Mrs Stubbs says she has spent more than £2,000 on her ferret playground so far.

In England and Wales, you do not need a licence to own the animals, but Mrs Stubbs thinks there should be "more regulation and checks" for people owning groups of ferrets to keep the species safe.

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