Hello list,
 
First of all, I owe everyone a big apology for "falling down on the job"
with our project to help shelters.  I will be more consistent from now on
with getting out the questions, if the list still interested that is.
After I get the responses to Question 3, I will put them together with
those from 1 and 2 and send them to the list as a long post.  BIG can
decide whether to make it a separate post or include it with the regular
FML.
 
Now for those who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, here's the
deal.  This post is one of many to come (hopefully), the aim of which is
to help out shelters who may have one or more problems that they would
like some help with solving.  The idea was originated by Bob Church.
Periodically a problem will be presented to the list and anyone and
everyone is invited to brainstorm and submit ideas.  The responses each
will be gathered by one person and collated into a post that will be sent
to the list at a later date.  DO NOT REPLY TO THE LIST.  SEND RESPONSES TO
THE ADDRESS NOTED BELOW.
 
Points to remember:
 
1) This isn't about pointing fingers.  It's about helping ferrets and
shelters.  Comments should be positive and directed towards finding
answers.
 
2) Anyone can contribute.  You don't have to be a shelter operator to have
a good idea about something.  Maybe you have found solutions as an
individual owner that you would like to share.  Goodness knows there are
some owners who have more ferrets than some shelters.  Maybe you have
experience with other types of shelters and can offer ideas for problems
that aren't necessarily ferret specific.  Etc.  You get the idea.
 
3) If you would like your response to be ANONYMOUS in the combined post
which will be sent to the list, please note this when sending your emails.
 
SEND RESPONSES TO:  [log in to unmask]
 
The question for the week is:
 
This is a tough one.  Most shelters have a set of guidelines that
interested people must meet in order to adopt one of their ferrets.
Sometimes people have complained that no one could ever meet all the
guidelines that some shelters have put in place, or that shelters are
inflexible when it comes to evaluating potential adopters' particular
circumstances.  This can lead to a shelter accumulating but rarely adopting
out ferrets.  How can shelters recognize when they might be approaching
this point, and how can they avoid it?  It would be particularly useful to
hear from shelters who have faced the temptation to be unreasonably strict
with guidelines and have overcome it, but again, anyone with ideas should
feel free to contribute.
 
Thank you,
Karen
[log in to unmask]
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A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of
the wicked is cruel."
                                         (Proverbs 12:10 RSV)
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If you love ferrets, check out:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crassi/index.html
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[Posted in FML issue 2627]