I received a rather heated email yesterday (the day before by the time you
receive this) regarding my personal involvement in the Ferrets Across
America programme.  It appears that some people have concerns about my
being involved in an American programme since I do not live in America.
They have yet to write in to the FML, however as some other people may
share those concerns, I've decided to address those concerns here.
 
Transports themselves will all be handled by people within the US, and in
fact within the States that they are going through.  The work that I will
be doing is essentially handling the paperwork - keeping the database up to
date, and passing on to the State Co-ordinators (who handle the transports)
the list of transports needing to be done.  This does not need to be done
specifically within the US.  The reason I am handling this is because I
know a reasonable number of people within the US who can help, I'm online
often enough to keep consistently in contact with people, I work from home,
and therefore I am able to keep the database up to date without it
interfering too much with my own work.  Until there are co- ordinators for
every State, I will be handling some transports where they pass through
States which do not already have their own Co- ordinators.  Once all the
States have their own Co-ordinators, then I will no longer be directly
involved with any transports at all.
 
Another concern that was raised was because people who had voluntered
before may need to fill in the volunteer form again.  There are two reasons
for this.  One, is because there was no-one co- ordinating Ferrets Across
America for some time, there are several people who have yet to be put into
the database.  This is currently being addressed, but may take some time.
Two, is because some of the details may have changed in that time,
different email address, new phones, new address, different times people
can transport... although many will be the same, some may be different.  I
do not 'decide' who goes into the database, I simply input the information
into it from the form that people choose to fill in.  If the form at the
website isn't filled in, I cannot enter the information on the database.
So the only person who 'chooses' who is a volunteer is the person who fills
in the form, or who decides not to.  The State Co-ordinator will choose who
to contact regarding a transport (I will have nothing to do with that
personally except in States with no Co-ordinator, until they get one).
Each person will be chosen by their location in the State.
 
I waited until the person who originally began Ferrets Across America
checked and approved the website before releasing the URL.  The website
will be changed shortly to reflect the changes to the Ferrets Across
America system and that it will be handling transports 'full time' once
more.  Currently, it holds exactly the same information as the original
site.
 
There *are* long distance phone calls for the State, and for the country.
The original co-ordinators for Ferrets Across America handled everything,
and one person was receiving all the bills for numerous calls across the
country.  This is the main reason that some could no longer help with
Ferrets Across America, as they simply could not afford to continually call
all across the US.  Transports within a specific area will be limited, and
that will significantly reduce the number and cost of calls that
co-ordinators initially had to cope with.
 
Some people have asked who their co-ordinators are within their State.
There is a hard and fast rule on this.  I *cannot* give out any information
on State Co-ordinators to anyone except other State Co-ordinators.  They
have to deal with the transports, and at any given time should only be in
direct contact with the people who are involved in the current transport or
transports.  Anyone who needs to contact Ferrets Across America (except in
regards to an actual transport in progress, where they will have been
approached by the State Co-ordinator) will have to contact the Central
Co-ordinator.  This is so that the State Co-ordinators can concentrate on
the transports in progress rather than on the paperwork and future
transports.  Because of this, I am not able to give out information on the
State Co-ordinators.
 
I hope this helps with any concerns that people may have.  If anyone has
any further questions, please feel free to contact me personally.
 
Sam
 
Ferrets Across America need your help in getting ferrets
from one home to another.
Email [log in to unmask] for information or visit
http://users.1st.net/hammock/ferrets/faa/ to volunteer
[Posted in FML issue 2872]