Sukie:
In response to your e-mail to me & the FML:
 
>Kris, it is very hard for anyone who doesn't know what sheltering is
>about to understand many aspects.
 
You must not of read my post correctly.  I said:
 
"I've been a shelter for almost 6 yrs and know that we have to take care
of the needy first  -  before fund raising or anything else!"
 
>Second, you have to understand that the costs are continuous and it is
>not unusual for a shelter to be paying off an earlier expense at any time,
>be that for food, medicine, cages, veterinary bills, or whatever.
 
You are right on the nail with this one, I've been paying vet bills for
quite some time now, and its a never ending process.  Not only does
adoption fees go towards them ,but (by golly) so does a lot of out of
pocket monies from working 40-50 hrs a wk, But you know that was my
decision to become a shelter.  Out of the love I have for these fuzzies!
 
>In private life we have more control over finances than a shelter can.
 
Right again - point being??
 
>That's part of the stress factor to having one, along with the losses
>suffered when people dump their dying ferrets, the abuses seen, the huge
>work week which leaves them exhausted, the... Note here that Steve and I
>do NOT have a shelter but we sure respect people who do.  Nor do we breed.
 
You are not telling me nothing I have not lived through.  As painful as it
is we still keep working on saving these little kids from neglected and
horrid conditions, let alone listening to all the reasons they are giving
up their little ones, or them not having enough time for their loved ones,
also stopping Stores from selling these guys and breeders from getting
carried away with litters.  OK - now that you brought up Breeding - WE DO
NOT Breed which brings up the question - Why wasn't any monies put aside
from the selling of Kits.
 
Fund raising is fine - I have no problem with that!  But if you already
have one go through heat in Dec., don't you think it will come back into
estrus again sooner or later????  I would, so I (being the responsible
shelter that I am) would put monies aside (if I didn't have it then) to
get the surgery done before complications happen.  My own opinion here,
but if you are a breeder & Shelter to me you are just butting heads with
yourself!  Why on gods earth would you want to breed seeing critters coming
into your shelter.  I have seen over 400 ferrets come into our shelter over
the years and I couldn't even fathom breeding!
 
As I said in my last post
>this is just my option and not meant to flame anyone", but receiving your
>e-mail and noticing you also sent it to the FML I just had to respond
 
Kris
 
Kris Mewton - [log in to unmask]
www.mkaresq.com  -  www.mfran.org
[Posted in FML issue 3337]