Hi all.

So often we shelter folks get caught up in sad stories and heartbreak
we tend to forget the good we can, sometimes inadvertently, do.

This weekend I got a call from a young woman who had lost her ferret
and wanted to know if he'd been turned into me. I told her no but I had
several suggestions on ways to find him. My first question is always
how long has he been gone. When she told me she didn't know, 2 or 3
days, I almost lost it. But I bit my lip and asked how could she not
know. I am in Las Vegas. We are running 5-15 degrees above our norms -
that means 100-105 degree days and we still have birds of prey who are
not above snatching a tasty meal out of a yard.

She didn't know when he went missing because he and her two other
ferrets live outside in her backyard. Okay now that lip I was biting is
beginning to bleed. I explained to her the dangers of the heat (totally
skipped the birds) to our little friends and implored her to bring the
other two in before the inevitable happened. I tell her that every
summer I get 'help help my ferret is dying' calls because someone
didn't bring them in, and usually those calls come too late. In between
explaining about lost posters, contacting Animal Control, vets,
crossing guards, etc, etc, I again and again implore her to bring
them in because the heat is so dangerous and will be fatal . At least
6 times in our 7 or 8 minute conversation I try to explain with out
recriminations. In the end when I hang up I am sure my words are laid
on deaf ears. All day I worry and pray for not just the missing boy,
whom I am sure is safe and snug at one of the neighbors, but for the
two who are in the back yard in 100+ degree heat.

Today when I got up there was another message on my machine. "I thought
a lot about what you said and I just wanted to tell you I brought the
other two in. Thank you."

The bloody lip was worth it.

Brenda,
Momma to the FurpeopleWeyr
FurpeopleWeyr.com

[Posted in FML 6344]