Laura,
 
I know the person to whom you are referring, and I can assure you, she is
most definitely running a real shelter.  I don't know who you talked to
who would say nasty things about such a good person, but they are wrong.
I've been there, I've seen the time and love she devotes to those
furkids.  She has folders for each ferret that comes in there, and
adoption packets.  She places every ferret she can, and spends HER time
and HER money caring for the sick ones that no one wants.  Her shelter
is clean and sanitary, and the ferrets in it are very well cared for.
They get rotated between cages and large Martin's playpens so they get
time to exercise.
 
I don't see an issue with asking for help in paying for shipping.  It
can't cost nearly as much as the items she's trying to donate.
Especially when you consider the fact that she is donating materials she
could very well use herself to help ferrets in need.  Just because she
doesn't need them right this second doesn't mean she won't need them a
month or two down the road.  But that's how she is - she thinks of others
first.  She's helped me more than once, and she's been very generous.
She cannot afford the shipping because with all the abadoned ferrets as
of late, resources at stretched very thin.  Yet she still is trying to
help.
 
She's not in it for the money - she's in it because she loves ferrets
and all animals.  I think anyone who's ever been in a shelter knows that
shelter moms aren't in it for the money!  Last time I was there, she had
over 40 ferrets in the shelter.  She needs help just as much as any other
shelter.
 
Respectfully,
Kristen
[Posted in FML issue 5002]