>>Only met them once at the LOS show in March, so I really can't get into
>>what they do or don't do
>You say that you were there in Ft. Washington, well that was supposed
>to be for shelters. Vendors could pay a lot more $$ to set up on the
>floor of the Expo, like Warm Fuzzy did. (The other group members did
>not know this at the time.) 98% of what was sold at the TP table was
>for personal profit not for the Rescue. ( I personally donated a cage
>to be sold for the shelter and it was sold there and yes, thank you,
>that money went to the shelter.)
I do not like having to post this on the FML but I feel that LOS is being
misrepresented. LOS contacts each individual before hand and asks
questions to determine if a shelter is a shelter or it is a vendor. Some
shelters resell products to help the rescue and other rescues to earn a
sole income. Though there are many difference between the two groups
previously mentioned, under our guidelines set forth and approved by the
Expo Center, one qualified and the other did not. If a shelter buys
nutri-cal and resells the items to bring money into the shelter and this
is less than 50%, it is still a shelter and not a vendor. Many shelters
buy litter pans, nutri-cal, food scoops and other trinkets to bring money
in but everyone is talking about a new shelter that just started less
than a year ago. It takes many years for a shelter to build a fund to
take money from to buy the items to resell and bring in more money to
help the shelter. In this case, i feel that the shelter in question
does not have such a fund build up since it was not enough time, so she
took money from her pocket to buy the items and put the profit into the
shelter. This is how you get started and with each profit you make, you
put it into your shelter fund and build it over years. So that you don't
have to take money out of pocket to bring donations and funds back into
the shelter. I have attached below the definitions set forth by LOS as
to what determines a shelter from and resuce and based on the answers to
our questions we determine who is or isn't a shelter.
A vendor is someone selling merchandise bought from a manufacturer at
wholesale or discount price with the intent to resell for a profit only.
A vendor is someone who manufactures a product with intent to sell
wholesale to any store or distributor to be their sole support or a
supplement to their income. You are still a vendor if the same product
you sell wholesale/discount to another business, is being offered for
sale by you. A vendor is often not a rescue and does not sell their
items to donate back to the shelter. A club/shelter is someone or group
selling "cottage" items for sale to support their club and/or shelter.
Cottage products are items made by the club/shelter in private homes.
Designed items made exclusively for the club/shelter to raise funds for
the organization. This must be 50% or more of their items for sale. A
club/shelter may also have items to sell for donations such as cages,
litter pans, nutri-cal and other supplies that are ferret-friendly.
If a shelter falls in between the definitions, it is up to our President
to decide who is or isn't a vendor. So please if anyone has questions
on how we determine a vendor from a shelter, please email me at
[log in to unmask] and
take it off public forum. I know the good intention was there but when
it comes to guidelines, go to the horse's mouth for answers. Most
times assumptions are incorrect. I am sorry to be so blunt but LOS has
guidelines that are being misrepresented and we wanted to clarify to
everyone what makes a shelter and vendor by our standards. Other formats
may have different guidelines but they are other formats. Please any
questions, email me.
Sincerely,
Dawn Smith, Vice President
Legion of Superferrets National
President of East Coast Division
Show/Events Coordinator
President of Ethics Committee
http://pages.ivillage.com/losbabyregistration/
[Posted in FML issue 4527]
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