Imagine my surprise from reading this list the last couple of days.  All
these years of sheltering gone to waste and I have been sheltering a lot
longer than some.  (Over ten years since I took in my first rescue and at
least 8 years since I started sheltering officially).  I have seen many
shelters come and go during this time yet I am still here and still
sheltering on my own with no help from clubs or other organizations.
 
You see I, just like that shelter in MI that Lisette can't pronounce the
name, don't have a dedicated checking account in the shelter's name either.
My reasoning is really quite simple.  Why should I pay $20 a month to
maintain an account that is always empty?  Trust me when I say adoption
fees don't even make a dent in the food and vets bills.  I pay everything
out of my pocket anyway so a separate account for me is a waste of money
that is better spent caring for the ferrets that have been abandoned.
 
What is going to be next on the list for being a shelter?  Is tax exempt
status going to be required?  Or how about being signed up for iGive?  Or
how about being listed on the FML shelter list?  I am none of the above for
those too.  I don't think any of those items make me less of a shelter than
one that is.  The ferrets I rescue and place into loving homes don't think
so either.  What ever happened to the first reason we do this?  The
ferrets!
 
I have met a lot of great people on this list in person who have never
asked me about my checking account.  Sukie, Pam Troutman, Pam Greene, Bob
C., Sam, et al.  A great many more have adopted from me and never thought
about my finances and didn't have any problems giving me a check for the
adoption made out to me instead of the shelter.
 
A while ago I had another person on this list ask me how much money I spent
on pens and pencils for the shelter?  (BTW Betty I never answered you.  I
don't spend anything on pens and pencils for the shelter.  I mug school
children walking past my house and take theirs.  I also go to banks and
take the ones chained down on the tables.) Those last statements were
humour for those joke impaired types.
 
I realize that there are some people in the world that want to take money
that they really don't deserve, but to accuse a shelter operator of being a
con artist because they don't have a dedicated checking account, or you
never heard of them or because you can't pronounce the name is crossing
the line.
 
Bev Fox
North Coast Ferret Shelter
One of the con artist shelter operators but at least you can pronounce
the name of my shelter even if you never heard of me.
[Posted in FML issue 2871]