I can understand how difficult it can be to operate a shelter out of
one's personal home.  There is the wear and tear on the floors and
furniture not to mention the flow of the public in and out for
surrenders, adoptions and, hopefully, volunteers.
 
But, given the nature of this companion animal, the ferret, is the
right answer to establish free-standing shelters for this species?
Let's look at it.
 
Sheltering for ferrets involves basic supplies such as food -which
generally is more expensive than cat or dog foods- litter, bedding,
medications and surgeries, to mention a few.  This makes just the basic
cost of sheltering ferrets expensive.  Donations are hard to come by
and never go far enough.
 
Since ferrets are prone to stress and illnesses, they often need more
intensive one-on-one care than cats or dogs, as a whole.  Since nearly
all ferret shelters I am aware of are 'no kill', they also often have
more of an elderly population than the average cat or dog shelter.  Yes,
ferret shelters have unique needs and problems.  So, is the answer a
free-standing shelter?
 
Let's say we have enough $$ to buy the land or have it donated.  Let's
assume we can get a grant to cover the costs for appropriate permits
and help build it.  Let's say legal fees for zoning and other related
construction fees are donated.  Let's be lucky enough to get all the
cages, bedding, toys, food, litter and trash bins, litter boxes, laundry
equipment, refrigerator, stove/microwave, tables and chairs, desks,
computer and filing cabinet(s), office supplies, cash register and -if
we're really lucky, we get a low mileage van- donated.  Unfortunately,
hypothetically, we do not have enough funds at this time to furnish the
medical and surgical rooms for our new shelter, but that will come with
time.
 
Now we have almost everything we need to start up.  There is never a
shortage of homeless ferrets, so let's start with 30.  They range in
ages from 6 months to 7 years of age.  How do we design our building
to meet our needs?
 
Let's start with a reception room (oops, forgot a couple of chairs or a
bench while they wait) where the families can enter the shelter either to
surrender or adopt.  (oops, did we forget to pave the parking lot and add
a little landscaping -and a sign and sidewalk?) This room is 20 feet deep
and runs the full width of the building -72 feet.  There are shelves
(oops forgot this shelving) offering food, litter, bedding, supplements
and herbal remedies, books and surplus cages for sale to help support the
shelter.
 
Behind the counter, which is equipped with our office supplies, is our
work area.  There are two doors, one on each side of our 'office' that
lead into the heart of our shelter.  The one on the left leads to the
hall with the adoption rooms.  The door on the right leads to the hall
with the Surrender and Quarantine room.
 
You choose the door on the left and start down the hall.  On each side
are two doors.  The first door on the left leads into the juvenile room.
Here we have the 'under two' crowd.  This room is about 20 X 20 feet
square with a large sink set in a countertop with cabinets above and
below to store extra bowls and water bottles, bedding, litterboxes and
other essentials.  You have a bin on wheels for food (so you can roll it
back to 'Supplies' to refill with shelter mix then roll it back to Juvie
Hall.  Same with the litter barrel.  You also have a wheeled trash
receptacle to dump used litter into so you can roll it back to the trash
dumpster to dispose of the double bagged contents.  There is a bin for
soiled bedding waiting to be emptied into the laundry cart and rolled to
the laundry facility.
 
There is a small desk with a chair for the operator to sit and update
records and a small filing system.  There is room for about 6-8 cages,
depending on size, but you don't have a lot of ferrets in this age group
anyway -just five.  Later as numbers increase, cages can be added, then
stacked.  The toys -and litterboxes- are scattered around and the room
looks like a daycare.
 
You come out of 'Juvie Hall" and go across the hall into 'Prime Time',
the 2-4 year olds.  Again, the room is 20X20 and has the same set up of
sink and storage and the prerequiste food, litter, laundry and trash
bins, only this room has an extra door leading out the opposite side to
another hall so you have a bit less wall space.  You have the same
record-keeping capabilities as in Juvie Hall.  You have 8 ferrets in this
room, though, so it's a little more active.
 
Coming out of Prime Time, we make a right and go to the next door, which
is where the 5-6 year olds are.  This room also has a second door leading
to another hall.  These guys are 'The Pros'.  They know how to be a
ferret.  They've been at it for quite a while.  This room is set up the
same as the two before it, only it is a bit more crowded as it has 12
residents awaiting new homes.  The toys aren't scattered around as much
as in Juvie Hall, but there are a few precious stashes around.  There is
an air of comfort, as many of these guys have been together for quite
some time, now.
 
Coming out of Eternity we go left and make another left to see the
10 X 15 square foot adoption room.  The room is cute with ferrety wall
hangings, a table and chairs to provide comfort while families fill out
adoption contracts and get to know their new additions.  There is a
literature stand filled with useful information -free for the taking.
Not much of interest in here, so we leave, going back up the hall to
visit the public restroom (unisex, and 10X10 should meet ADA
requirements).  Much relieved, we continue our tour.
 
Straight ahead and on the left is the 20 X 30 square foot storage room,
and holds the bags of foods used for the shelter mix and the stockpile
of litter.  There is an oversized door, with a lighted EXIT sign above
it, to enable deliveries.  (oops, forgot all the EXIT signs and required
emergency lighting public buildings require, not to mention we need to be
able to be handicapped accessible.)  The extra paper towels, tp, trash
bags, brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies (oops, forgot shelving)
and extra cages are crammed into this undersized-for-its-needs climate
controlled room.  The washer, dryer and laundry cart live here, too.
There is a small 10X20 room off of the Storage Room that houses the
mechanicals -both furnaces as the sick room has it's own system- water
heater and filter, and catches the overflow of the Storage room.  There
is also a flat cart that delivers bags of litter to each room.
 
Starting back towards the front of the shelter, we have the empty 20X40
square foot medical room.  Someday, there will be an exam room with a
small surgical bay complete with isoflourane gas and monitoring equipment
to keep medicalc osts down.  We do hope to find a vet that will take time
away from their practice to come use our facility.  We don't spend much
time here, but exit and make a left and continue towards the next door,
the Sick Room.
 
The Sick Room is pretty self explanatory.  It's a small, 10X20 room where
anyone feared contagious is moved into.  There are gowns, masks, and
disposable footies in the small anteroom before entering the sick room
and a trash recepticle to dispose of used materials before leaving to
minimize contagion to the other ferrets.  The Sick Room has it's own HVAC
system and negative air pressure to prevent cross contamination to the
other areas.  ADV positive ferrets could be housed here temporarily, as
no room was designed for them during construction.  Ferrets testing
postitive can be transported to another shelter or private home if the
need arises.
 
Our last stop before exiting the heart of the shelter is the quarantine
room.  This 15X20 room is the first stop ferrets make when entering the
shelter before being assigned their appropriate distination.  It is much
like the other rooms, but is currently empty.  This won't last long,
though, as a group of 6 ferrets are due to come in tomorrow.
 
As we exit back into the store/office/reception area, we are able to
select purchases before leaving.  Sounds good, so what's wrong with
this?  It's modest, and the room sizes are large enough to be servicable,
but not too large, and allows for growth.  But how soon before the
numbers breach 30 and move to 60 or 90 or 150?
 
Even with modest room sizes, this imaginary 72X87 foot building (allowing
for 4" walls) is a whopping 6,264 square feet of space to heat and
cool -and maintain.  It will need things like air filters, light bulbs,
cleaning supplies.  What room(s) do you eliminate?  make the shelter
rooms larger and fewer of them?  Drop the sick room or quarantine room?
The elderly's refuge?  Having more rooms increases playtime capacity.
The 'hospital' could probably go.  Minimize the office/reception/store
area?  All these things need to go somewhere.  How large or small the
building is will dictate how soon it will be outgrown.  And it WILL be
outgrown.  Build it and they will come.  To build a structure like this
is an open invitation to 'bring your ferret here'.  That's what it's
there for, after all.  And now, it's your JOB.
 
But now we need to think about some other issues beyond providing care
for the bound-to-be-increasing number of ferrets.  We would have those
expenses an ywhere.
 
Let's look at building specific issues.  Will the building be real estate
tax exempt, and if not, what would the taxes be every 6 months.  Hazard
and liability insurance will be needed.  This is based on the cost of the
building, usually.  How much will be budgeted for building maintenance?
After all, things do break and wear out.  How much will snow removal and
grounds maintenance run?  How will funds for these costs be raised?  Who
will do it?  You can't single-handedly take care of the ferrets and
maintain a structure and business of this size.  You'll need money to
pay for the water, sewer, and refuse.  Just how much would the gas and
electric bill run on a building like this?  There will be telephone and
internet costs.  Who could afford this?
 
Another issue is the manhours that would be needed to operate a
free-standing shelter.  Volunteers are important and difficult to come
by.  What happens when you have a ferret that is ill and needs 24/7 care?
Carry them home and back with you along with all the fluids, meds, etc.?
What about medication times?  Will someone be available at the facility
when medications are due to be given?  What extra travel expenses will
be incurred due to traveling back and forth to the facility?
 
Would this dream facility, too, become the ferret community's
responsibility?  Before embarking upon an endeavor like this, the
additonal costs associated with building and operating a free-standing
shelter would need to be carefully looked at.
 
[JY]
[Posted in FML issue 5337]