I want to say a hugh Thank You to those who have responded to our request
for help! You are all angels!!!
The response has been wonderful, incredible.....boxes have been arriving
with food, treats, A/D, hammocks, blankets and more.
I cried yesterday when I opened an envelope with a check in it for $1000,
then another for $100 in the name of a loved one who had passed and
another, etc. totaling $1235.......we can now pay off 1/2 of our vet
and shelter bills.
I know there are those FML readers who dont care for shelter posts
"begging for funds" but I ask you to re-consider. Though I have been on
the FML since about 1996, I have only asked twice for help for our
shelter.
Over 10 years we have received about $2500 total in donated funds
(including what we just received), mainly because I don't ask enough.
The thousands of dollars needed over the years have come out of our
household funds. I scrape, scrounge, and do without to keep it afloat.
Somehow, I feel that running this shelter should rest entirely upon my
shoulders alone....I shouldnt need to ask for help.....after all nobody
is making me do this, right? If only it were that easy.
When I told my Dad about the $, he said to me that perhaps I should makes
our needs known more often, and though, as I have said, I hate to ask
anyone for $ or supplies, this occurs to me: The $ is not for me, not one
red cent. I do this for the love of ferrets; I do this because it is
right and just; I do this not for fun, because as much as I love these
guys, it isnt fun. I do this because the ferrets need me, need us
shelters, educators and advocators. And, so I come to the conclusion
that it is OK to ask for help, because I can not do this alone, I am not
alone and I have friends out there who understand, and who want to help.
Our shelter is in Tim-buck-two. There are only two of us up here in no
mans land doing all the ferret shelter, ferret education, and ferret
legalization work for a population of about 150,000; and I do mean ALL of
it for the last 10 years. I used to be able to travel to various ferret
shows, Sacramento for legalization hearings, and other ferret events in
and out of state. I did teeth cleaning and education to help raise
shelter funds, but with 2 munchkins under 6, this is no longer an option.
Also, being in Ca, we never see an adoption fee. We are lucky just to
find a home out of state to get the healthy ones to..and the gas for
trips to the Oregon shelters for drop off's is not cheap. The ferrets
that stay are too old or sick, or abused to go for adoption so we incur
the costs for their care for the remainder of their lives, not to mention
the excruciating heartache when we lose them. I have more ferrets buried
in our backyard under the redwoods then I can count anymore.
Many can not or do not have a local shelter they can help out at, and so
they send funds and supplies where they are needed and I am more grateful
than words can possibly express for their generous donations. The FML is
one of our very best resources for veterinary information and what is
going on in the rest of the ferret world; and of course contacts for our
shelter and friends in the ferret world. Without BIG and the FML we
couldnt continue to do what we do here, so if I offend anyone for
begging, so be it! It is for the woozles!!!
[Posted in FML issue 4966]
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