All--

It's that time of year! The Ferret Giving Tree will be open for
shelters to register and post ferrets to on Tuesday, October 15.
Shelters will have until November 30th to register and may post
ferrets to the Tree until December 15.

Here are the rules (some are new, so please read!):

1. The maximum number of ferrets per shelter is a a graduated amount
based on total ferrets in the shelter:

For shelters with 10 ferrets or fewer, the maximum they can post is
the number of ferrets in their care.

For shelters holding between 11 and 30, their maximum is 10 ferrets.

For shelters holding between 31 and 50, the maximum is 15 ferrets.

For shelters with more than 50 ferrets, the maximum is 20.

2. To be approved to post ferrets on the Ferret Giving Tree, you must
be must be:

* on the SOS or AFA shelter lists OR
* a 501c3 OR
* verifiable with a certified veterinarian OR
* vouched for by a shelter/rescue/hospice on the SOS or AFA lists.

All participants will be checked to ensure they qualify.

3. The Tree currently allows Secret Santas, but shelters can choose to
disallow this if they wish. The Tree is also setup to hide the Shelter
Addresses so that only confirmed Santas will see them.

4. Only living ferrets currently within the registered shelter or
foster care facility may be placed on the tree. The Tree will be
examined each night to ensure the ferrets placed on it are legitimate.
Any posting found to be invalid will be immediately removed. Also,
please remember that no personal ferret may be posted on the Tree.

Shelters: Please make sure you put all the contact information
necessary and WRITE DOWN YOUR LOGIN/PASSWORD! We still don't have a
way for shelters to be able to change or reset their own passwords.

As many ferrets on the tree as possible should have a picture. Any
shelter that puts too many ferrets up without pictures (less than half
have pictures) may risk being temporarily suspended or removed. So get
to snapping those pics! If you don't have a camera, ask a friend, use
your camera phone, use your friend's camera phone, just make sure you
have a picture for each ferret! That's what tends to sell the ferret
to the prospective Santa!

Please remember that I have access to all the information people put
into the Ferret Giving Tree database, and, therefore, can see who
requested which ferret. I am happy to help any shelter who experiences
any "bad" Santas, however, I will NOT be doing anything about "bad"
Santas unless I am specifically asked to help.

Also, please be patient; I may not get to approving everyone who
registers each day. Please make sure you give us at least 24 hours
to get shelters approved. I'm on the West Coast, so my 24 hours might
start later than yours!

If you need help, you can email [log in to unmask]
or
[log in to unmask] and someone will help you with whatever
you need.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Melanee Ellis
Ferret Giving Tree Admin.

[Posted in FML 7924]