Animal lover Michelle Owen cannot resist a ferret – she bought two as pets six years ago and currently has a staggering 72 of the furry creatures.

Her love of the animals has taken over her life and she now runs a rescue centre for ferrets at her home in the West Midlands.

Instead of putting up her feet when she arrives home from her job as an NVQ assessor, the 39-year-old, of Lower Penn, near Wolverhampton, spends four hours every other day cleaning out their hutches.

To help pay for their care, she has started up a sideline making ferret hammocks and selling the custom-made beds at shows around the country.

She also raises funds through ferret racing and games of ferret roulette, where an animal is placed in a dustbin with pipes extending from it and punters have to guess which one it will emerge from.

Most of the menagerie live in hutches in a converted shed at the end of her garden and take it in turns to play on the lawn for exercise.

Michelle, of Pinfold Grove, said: “My family tell me I’ll never have any money because I spend it all on the animals.

“I can’t help it, I can’t turn a ferret away,” added the cheerful mother-of-one.

Among her ferret family are an albino called Alice, who is dying of lymphona and a disabled ferret called Yogi.

Earlier this year Michelle was awarded the Adrie Walker Memorial Shield in recognition of her rescue and welfare work.

Anyone interested in giving a home to a ferret can contact Michelle by telephoning 07786 522492.