Okay, shelter operations wanna knows......
 
Shelters That Adopt & Rescue Ferrets (STAR*) has been a functioning network
since 1991.  I started it because people wanted to get involved with ferret
rescue and there were no publications or organized system for such.  Before
STAR*, I was the shelter "lead" (no office or title here) for the
International Ferret Association (IFA).  Mary Van Dahm, who was the Minister
of Shelters for the Ferret Unity and Registration Organization (FURO), is
STAR*'s co-director.  We have both been doing ferret rescue since sometime
in the 1980's.
 
STAR* is not a club.  We put out a quarterly newsletter, which requires a
subscription fee, and publish a book called _FERRET CARE AND RESCUE_ (most
recent edition is 1996) and have a set of blank forms for people interested
in starting some sort of ferret related services.  No sense in reinventing
the wheel here.  We provide free information to anyone interested in
educating pet shops, vets, or themselves about ferrets.  We attend the HSUS
Animal Care Expo and pass out everyone's literature on ferrets who is
willing to send us a hundred copies.  This must be educational material or
an explanation on how your shelter system works.
 
The huge database titled STAR*'s Resource Listing for Ferrets is maintained
by myself and right now one volunteer (while I'm in the process of running
TWO surveys at one time).  I spend a minimum of an hour daily returning
e-mail requests and another hour filling out information requests received
by mail.  For a SASE anyone can receive a listing of all the resources for
ferrets that I have been informed of for your state or area (large states
like Texas and CA are broken into zip code areas).
 
To maintain the database, people have to let me know when information is no
longer accurate and send me their vet's business card if they want them
listed.  I do a mass mailing in December of every year and any letters
returned to me undelivered are deleted off the database.  Everyone else is
listed as a ferret contact until I receive an update via the survey sent in
the mail or responded to over the Internet.  If there are changes during the
year, people need to let me know as they happen.  Now, keep in mind that the
database is HUGE and I send it to Bill Gruber and Pam Greene every three
months in its entirety.  So, changes on my Mac are instantaneous, but Web
changes may take time.
 
For those people interested in shelter life - STAR* sends out an annual
survey to find out what shelters are charging for adoption, what their vets
charge them for services, how many ferrets they have handled in a year and
since conception, what problems they have had, etc.  If anyone wants to know
these facts about ferret rescues, you are more than welcomed to send a SASE
to STAR* Ferrets, PO Box 1714, Springfield, VA 22151-0714 and ask for the
1996 shelter survey results.  You can also request a listing of your state
resources too.
 
STAR* Ferrets is NOT-FOR-Profit.  If you send me a donation, I usually send
you a newsletter subscription for the equivalent time frame.  STAR* Ferrets
is independent of all the other ferret groups.  Many of our subscribers are
just people interested in ferret information, about half are ferret owners
and the rest shelter operator and club officers.
 
Check out STAR*'s web connections through Ferret World.
 
Pamela Troutman Grant
[Posted in FML issue 1815]