Let's talk about what works for rescues both large and small, what can
go wrong, and what fits into confusing categories.
1. This one is obvious: Just as courtesy to the rescuers is needed,
courtesy to the donors and especially to the volunteers is needed.
Problems: division of labor, rest, record keeping, etc.
Question: would it help for a distant volunteer to have a daily phone
call with one of the at-site volunteers and on a website put the thank
you list to all who donating labor (each added as she or he arrives)
and the thank you list to donors w a brief description of what was
received (check, bedding, cages, ADV tests...)
Problems: can donations to volunteers be made to ease people who are
providing hard labor? For example, can people arrange for delivered
meals, or special clothing, or help cover hotel rooms for those who
want or need that?
Suggestions?
2. This one is less obvious: temporary needs for transportation or
shelter. With a large rescue there may be a temporary need for a large
vehicle but the vehicle will need to be of a type that does not have
any risk of exhaust moving into the compartment where the cages will
be. How do those costs be kept best controlled? If a second hand
vehicle is a cheaper possibility even after the cost of having a
mechanic verify that it will hold up then should the donations cover
part of the cost -- due to the uses -- and the person who will retain
the vehicle pay the rest or should the vehicle be resold after the
fact with the money plowed back into covering costs?
There are parallels in having a place to put the ferrets.
So often a rescuer eats a large portion of the cost of anything
involved herself or himself. Only rarely do shelters or rescues get
enough donations to cover the costs. When they don't then is there any
problem with the rescuer keeping the large items which were bought
rather than rented to off-set large amounts of personal debt put into
the rescue?
Problems? Suggestions?
3. Quarantine: for multiple health reasons such as ADV, Canine
Distemper, Giardia, Coccidia, fleas, etc. it makes sense to have
an initial quarantine (which makes the need for the temporary
transporation and temporary added housing if a rescue is large enough
even more needed and for longer). There are health reasons to simply
NOT send out animals who have not had vaccinations, fecal testing (a
lot of fecal testing...), parasite checks, ADV tests, other medical
care, etc. (This may also mean higher insurance costs due to multiple
drivers.)
Problems? Suggestions?
4. During quarantine time offers to take the ferrets will hopefully
be coming in. How can they all be checked? For obvious reasons it is
essential that hoarders, snake feeders (something I know accidently
happened to one shelter which did not check out a recipient well),
those who want to keep the ferrets to breed them, etc. be weeded out.
During the quarantine weeks can clubs and known ferret community people
be gotten involved in the states where there are no state inspections
of shelters. In states like NJ those offering can be checked out with
the dept. which inspect them by state volunteers, but in other states
actual visits may be needed by more than one volunteer.
Problems? Suggestions?
5. Some large items will be loaned (perhaps some like large vehicles
with some reimbursement). How will those be handled and tracked?
Problems? (I could imagine things getting overwhelming at times.)
Suggestions?
6. What about labor when there will be a space of time before enough
volunteers arrive?
7. What about having enough sanitary facilities for the large influx
of both volunteers and animals?
8. What about improvements that the rescue absolutely requires? (Is
this another case in which the rescuers typically bring in less than
needed so it they displace some of the cost to the rescuer?)
9. Now, here is something that would be very, very rare: what if the
rescue brings in more money than it costs? How should extra funds be
dispersed?
10. Probably more common: what about the extra items afterward?
Obviously, selling them to reduce costs makes sense, but if if the
costs are met then what should be done?
I am sure that each of you can think of multiple points about each of
the questions above and I know that a lot of you will think of many
more which need refining and probably EVERYTHING about making a large
rescue work needs better understanding in the general ferret community.
So, how about sharing some general info?
THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE WORKED RESCUES: TEACH US, PLEASE!
Those of you others who have ideas or questions, share them so they
can be knocked around and refined for optimal performance.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 5815]
|
