Pam Grant wrote:
>"I know some people can't be sold. For example, I know of a vet in
>Florida who was willing to perform free adrenal surgeries at his school
>for a shelter if the ferrets would be transported. The Florida shelter
>considered the drive too long, despite having over 50 ferrets needing
>adrenal surgery."
As a Board member of the Shelter at the time the above-referenced offer was
made (several years ago), I feel it imperative I respond with...as radio
personality > Paul Harvey would say, "The rest of the story.....".
It is true that an offer was made to our main Shelter by a University of
Florida DVM for "free adrenal surgeries".....BUT here's the rest of the
story: An experienced, ferret-knowledgeable vet would NOT be performing
said surgeries. The "free surgeries" would be done by senior vet students
in a hands-on lab setting with him overseeing approximately 15-20 ferret
surgeries being performed at the same time. Ms. Grant's statement can
easily be misconstrued to indicate that a licensed, ferret-friendly
veterinarian would himself be performing thesurgeries. This was NOT to be
the case.
It is also true that we (the SFFC&R Board) "considered the drive too
long"....BUT here's the rest of the story: Our Main Shelter is in Miami.
The University of Florida is in Gainesville. Over 300 miles away!
Comparisons would be a Shelter in Washington, DC transporting their adrenal
kids to Cleveland, OH or Hartford, CT for "free" surgeries. Again, Ms.
Grant's statement can easily be misconstrued and lead one to believe that
the distance between the two Florida entities was easily manageable. This
was NOT the case.
And, yes, it's true the Miami shelter did have quite a number of ferrets in
need of adrenal surgeries....BUT here's the rest of the story: Our Main
shelter is one of the oldest and largest rescues in the state of Florida;
but "over 50 ferrets" in need of adrenal surgery at one time? Once again,
I question the validity of such a statement. Is Ms. Grant now, or has she
ever been, a member of our organization? Has Ms. Grant ever even visited
our Miami facility? No.
Another important factor as to why our Board declined this "free" offer:
The best and safest anesthetic agent for ferrets is generally considered to
be isoflurane. Unfortunately, isoflurane was NOT what the vet students
would be using.
And the logistics of the "free surgeries" project? Staggering. Think
about it: They wanted us to send at least 15-20 ferrets...to make it worth
their time AND our time. But they had no place to house the ferrets prior
to or after surgery. Hmmmm....do we start driving up the day before and
RENT hotel rooms for everyone? Or do we arrive just prior to their surgery
time....and hope that the stress of the 300+ mile trip hasn't affected
these ferrets--who would all need to be fasted prior to surgery? How do we
monitor all these pre-surgery Kids?--some who could conceivably have
hypoglycemic attacks? Were we to drive the ferrets up there in a convoy of
volunteers' vehicles or do we incur the cost of RENTING a large air
conditioned truck? (Remember...this is hot, humid Florida!) And, if we
were able to overcome all those obstacles... How comfortable would most of
you be having only one or two experienced, ferret-knowledgeable vets in
attendance while a classroom of senior vet students all begin adrenal
surgeries on your ferrets? How could the experienced vets possibly respond
adequately as the students start having problems? Some of the adrenals
affected would have been right adrenals....and what then? It was the rare
and very skilled surgeon who would even attempt a right adrenal removal
during the time of this offer... Then if even all the above were to go
flawlessly, our volunteers would be left to deal with 15-20 post-op
ferrets.....either in a rented motel room in Gainesville for the crucial
24-48 hours post surgery.....or driving them the 300+ miles back to South
Florida immediately thereafter. How many would survive the trip?
Yes, we respectfully declined the offer--as did at least one other Florida
shelter, that was half the distance from Gainesville, due to similar
concerns. The risks vs. benefits ratio just did not compute to the
advantage of the *individual* ferrets. Each and every one of our Shelter
Kids is entitled to the BEST veterinary treatment available....and if we
have to schedule surgeries around having funds available, then so be it.
To us, they are not "just" Shelter ferrets to be offered as live "practice"
animals in a lab environment in order to save our Shelter some bucks. Each
has a name, personality, likes/dislikes, emotions, ferret buddies, favorite
toys, unique habits, etc. Each Shelter ferret is treated with the same
love and respect as our "personal" ferrets; and deserve nothing less! Now,
"The rest of the story...." has been told.
Barbara Ludt
Northeast Florida Branch/South Florida Ferret Club & Rescue, Inc.
Visit our Shelter website at: http://www.miamiferret.org
Help raise Funds for our Shelter ferrets--just click on this link:
http://www.iGive.com/html/ssi.cfm?cid=3664&mid+29938
[Posted in FML issue 2691]
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