I don't usually post but I feel I may must add to this discussion about
shelters/collectors.  I live in California and am active in our local
ferret club & informal "shelter" (informal, due to obvious legal
restraints).  I also work as a social worker.  In my field, there is a
recognized "type" of social /human services worker (called a "rescuer")
that works in this field primarily to make themselves feel good and to
receive the adulation of others.  Often these workers go to the "extreme"
for their clients, have a tendency to "hoard" their clients from other
agencies and refuse to accept different case- management ideas from other
workers.  Unfortunately, their strategy and intervention is often actually
detrimental to the people they are trying so desperately to "help".  My
point is this: people may generally have good intentions but when we are
"responsible" for other living things (people or ferrets) we must
constantly review our motivations and make sure we are not serving OUR
needs at their expense.
 
I, for one, do not ascribe to the "if you haven't walked in my
moccasins..." perspective.  In fact, sometimes what we need is EXACTLY an
outside viewpoint (which is why good social work agencies have frequent
staff meetings to discuss cases among all the workers).  I believe the FML
should be just such a forum.  A forum for respectful discussion and
disagreements.  Once again, the hostile responses (not the reasonable
disagreements) to Bob Church's shelter post say more about the respondents
than about the original post.  Surely we can agree that there are some
shelter operators that fit my above-mentioned description (and Bob
Church's).  And if there are, how can it be wrong to broach a discussion
on how to solve the problem?
 
pocha in CA
[Posted in FML issue 2518]