[2 posts combined.]
 
Troy Lynn, you were right on the money in your post.  Running a shelter
is not easy and it is definitely not for everyone.  There aren't many
people who can truly understand all it takes to run shelter.  For me, it
is not so different from what I have already done with my hubby the last
20 years or so with all of the animals that come to us.  We have had
ferrets in our lives for a very long time, and we specifically requested
those that had medical conditions or were unadoptable for other reasons.
I think this primed us for the day when we we became shelter operators.
It was if it was fated to be...
 
I worry for these little guys.  What is hard is seeing these little guys
go, because I never know if I made the right choice in a new family or
not.  I'm sure that for those of us who have these fears, that we temper
it with the fact that we feel we have done all we can do to ensure we
make a right choice, but ultimately, none of us knows what happens behind
closed doors once the ferret is in the home for awhile.  I fear for the
day I get a call that tells me that one of the ones we adopted out died
due to preventable circumstances.  I worry about if their health will be
a priority after they leave my home and if they will receive the medical
care they need should something come up.  And I worry about the amount
of time they will get out of their new cages when they had free run here.
I worry for each and everyone of them but I also know that many good
families are out there and it is my responsibility to find them.
 
I feel running a shelter also means providing a support network for
everyone who has adopted a ferret from your organization.  One of the
most common things I run into is people being left to their own devices
and that just doesn't cut it.  Since we as ferret shelters provide care
to the ferrets that are surrendered to us or rescued, we must extend that
care to the ferrets and the new owners once they leave our doors.  And
when I see that our surrender numbers are down even though we have
received many calls for them, I know that I have done my job because I
made a difference in the lives of those that could have been taken from
their families.  And that is such a reward in itself.
 
Yesterday I got a call from a woman who wanted to surrender a ferret,
but I won't let her do that until we have had the opportunity to talk
about what the real reasons for doing this are.  It didn't take long to
discover that she needs help and thankfully she was willing to listen.
This is a big part of what we do.  As shelter operators it is as
important to work with those that have ferrets as it is to care for the
ferrets.  We have a big day ahead of us to start with, and many things
we will be talking about... bite training, litter box training, marking
poops, positive reinforcements, integration and much more.  What makes me
hopeful in this case that I will not be leaving with her ferret is that
she sounded so willing to work with me, and that alone gives me great
hope that this will work out in the long run.
 
I see us very much as a resource and not just a temporary holding centre.
I also view us the first step in rehabilitation of those ferrets who have
had bad experiences.  We are here for a variety of reasons but it starts
with the happiness of the ferrets that Troy Lynn speaks of and follows
them out to their adoptive homes.
 
[part 2]
I smiled when Troy Lynn used the phrase "labour of love" because that is
what hubby and I say too.  It is hard, never ending work, but to see the
happiness in their little eyes is all we need to know we have been paid
in full.  I gave up my paying job to concentrate on these little guys
fully and hubby has made the sacrifice to be the sole supporter.  We also
gave up having a "nicely decorated show home" to make it a fun playland
for the ferrets.  We also don't have a new car, or go on regular
vacations.  We decided that to have a good life was to have it with the
ferrets... new things became just materialistic if they didn't improve
the lives of the fuzzballs.  We shop at second hand clothing stores and
we are now considered "garbage pickers" for we area always on the lookout
for cool things that people throw out that the ferrets might find
interesting.  And boy, there is a cornucopia of stuff out there!
 
When I read, I read medical books on ferrets.  I write and produce our
shelter's newsletter and try to find cool stuff to put in there and to
provide good tips on living better with your ferret.  I write promotional
brochures too and recently added writing articles for new pet magazine.
When our lives changed, I never imagined it would have changed in this
way or that our focus on ferrets would be so strong.  We went from
stylishly dressed artists to ordinarily dressed ferret people.  We don't
care because this isn't a fashion show.  We don't do what we do to be on
TV or to be promoted as something we are not.  We are a ferret shelter
and rescue foremost.  Time definitely becomes a relative thing.  If you
don't think you have it, you need to think about what is on your priority
list.  Even when we take the time to watch TV, we clean litterboxes, or
feed sick ferrets while we do it.  When hubby has "free time" he builds
nesting boxes for the kidlins or works on projects for the shelter.
Lately he has been doing more portrait work to help us out financially.
 
But Troy Lynn, you did hit on one very important aspect in your post...
the volunteers.  I know in my heart what I am able to accomplish as I
have given of myself to this kind of lifestyle 100%, but I must realize
that not everyone is not like me.  And that can be hard chunk of reality
to swallow.  It is second nature to me to make the choices I have without
blinking and eye, but to others, they are still so bound to other aspects
of day to day living.  Can I blame them for not making ferrets as high
a priority as I make them?  No, but it doesn't stop me from wishing it.
I guess for me their little lives are so precious that the thought of
putting anything above them is hard for me to agree with.  But that is
where I need to be realistic in my expectations of others.  I cannot
expect my volunteers to have the same level of commitment I have to the
ferret cause because we all need to understand that what we do give of
ourselves, is better than not giving at all.  And each little bit counts.
 
I can be hard on my volunteers because I love the ferrets so much it is
hard to see anything else.  I can be hard on other people because I
expect so much more out of them simply because I know they could offer
more.  I can be hard on myself for not accomplishing all that I want to
accomplish in a single day or a single week.  But I won't compromise
anything for anyone when the ferrets are involved.  They do come first
and foremost.  And I can live with that.  So call me a assertive, call
me fanatical, call me a workaholic, because when it comes to the ferrets,
I take it all as a compliment.
 
Just don't call me late for dinner!
 
Betty Janner
Manager Calgary Operations
Alberta Ferret Society
[Posted in FML issue 3967]