Jack Sprat would eat no fat.
His wife would eat no lean.
And so, between the two of them
they kept the platter clean.
 
People can have different interests and yet have the end result be a "clean
platter".  One example has been presented here recently:
 
Group A: wants to know different ways that people handle Shelter Shock
(very recently called also FAD which is a very cute acronym but not as
specific a term) to reduce the numbers of deaths.  The result could be
to save the lives of ferrets.
 
Group B: wants to try to learn the various excuses/reasons given when
ferrets are surrendered and get a feel for how common each is to try to
improve general education and reduce casual purchases that should not be
made (reducing shelters' burdens if successful).  The result could be to
save the lives of ferrets.
 
And so, between the two of them  ....  the results could be to save the
lives of ferrets.
 
Instead we are seeing a pile of complaining and very little acceptance
that there are others who can use the discards (in either fashion) to
save ferrets.
 
Let's stop the whining and carping, and just skip over what each doesn't
want to read, and learn from what each does want to read.
 
Please, DO post ways you have found to reduce shelter shock deaths to
help Group A save ferrets.
 
Please, DO post what is said to cause ferrets to be left with you so that
such information may be used to perhaps reduce casual purchases to help
Group B save ferrets.
 
Please, DO skip over the posts which don't interest you and let others
learn from them.
 
Please, DO read them all when you have both time and  curiousity, a love
of learning.
 
Please, accept that the interests of others may differ from your's.
 
Please, reread messages and remember that perhaps a person is rushed or
under a lot of pressure and might not word things as well as could be
hoped; the rereading will let you look for alternative interpretations
before you reply angrily.
 
Please, remember that those with little time simply don't have the minutes
to spare for extraneous information -- it robs time from ferrets -- so post
either, but send Group A the Shelter Shock help info, and send Group B the
info of what is said in relation to surrenders, and not visa-versa or both
in private mails.
 
Please, remember that any group the size of a town will have a few
individuals (who may be using multiple names) who try to pick fights or
cause fights because they get their jollies from hurting others.  This
group has actually been studied by professionals in the field; they tend
to usually (but not always) be college boys (not men) who are markedly
immature for their ages and socially isolated as a result -- borderline
people who sometimes form on-net packs that cause competative damage and
try to out-do each other.
 
Please, remember that the fighting about all the side issues here isn't
going to save even one ferret, but the information requested by Groups A
and B could possibly save many.
 
Thank you to the people who HAVE looked past the arguments and gotten down
to the helpful information.
[Posted in FML issue 3075]