The National Ferret Census was first launched on National Ferret Day 2009 in partnership with pet food manufacturer - James Wellbeloved

it was the first project of its kind to get a national understanding of how ferrets are kept, what they are fed, what they are used for plus a number of questions which had yet to be answered.

We knew at the time it would be impossible to canvas every single ferret owner in the country mainly because at the time we had no idea how many ferret owners there were, let alone how many ferrets.

To give ourselves the best opportunity in ensuring the self-complete census would reach as many people as possible FERT partnered with leading pet food manufacturer James Wellbeloved - creators of Ferret Complete - the first British formulated dried complete ferret food.

The census questionnaire was made available both online (at the FERT website www.ferrettrust.org and also at the James Wellbeloved website www.wellbeloved.com) and also in selected bags of Ferret Complete which was available through many leading pet food stockists.

The census itself was designed to be completed quickly and as a number of questions which allowed both James Wellbeloved and FERT the opportunity to capture key information on the welfare, health care, feeding and overall owner demographic of the ferret community. Upon completion the census was returned to an independent market research company (MSS Research:www.mssresearch.co.uk) to compile the overall results and publish them to its client.

For a full copy of the compiled results please click here (or the icon below for an electronic copy) or send a SAE A4 envelope to The Ferret Education & Research Trust, Holm Park, Office 231, 27 Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2EW and a printed copy will be returned

Download an electronic copy of the census results by clicking here

Our goal

The Ferret Education & Research Trust; as the founding charity behind National Ferret Day in the UK, it is our aim to educate the public about the domesticated ferret, to ensure it is respected as a working animals as well as a companion animal (we see no difference, you care for one the same as the other) and also to work with other organisation who have the same goal.

FERT is the first dedicated national registered charity within England and Wales which aims to promote the care and welfare of the domesticated ferret. It has strong ties with various other ferret organisations and welfares; international & overseas, national and also those operating in a local capacity.

It was our group intention to establish a charitable cause that would be able to support the fundraising of other ferret welfares around the UK and also to offer a means to educate and inform the public regarding the plight of this hard working and much maligned animal.

To learn more about the projects of FERT and its structure, please click here

Thank You!