Many of you have ask what tools we use to check on shelters before, during
and after disaster strikes.  Since the tools we have are very important and
must be constantly updated I thought I would take this opportunity to not
only enlighten you but enlist your help.
 
First a big thank you to Pamela Troutman of STAR* Ferrets.  Without Pam's
Star Ferret Shelter Listing FFDRI would have not been able to operate.  From
1993 through 1996 this was the only listing we had.  If you are a shelter
and are not on Pam's listing please contact her immediately with the name of
your shelter, Address, phone number and E-mail address if you have one.  You
can contact Pam at: [log in to unmask]
 
Next we have the Save Our Shelter (S.O.S.) listing.  You all know this
listing it appears every 3 to 4 months and is put together by Judith at:
[log in to unmask]
 
How it works.  One of the watchers contacts the FFDRI Director that there is
a possible disaster somewhere in the U.S.  Also we constantly monitor the
Weather both on TV and on the World Wide Web (WWW) as well as the major News
Organizations.  Once a problems is confirmed the FFDRI Director begins phone
calls and E-mails (these come from our listings) to track down the problem.
Those that we E-mail or call are given a list of people to contact and check
on.  If the disaster involves mostly canine's or feline we contact
organizations in the area that can also assist.  For instance in 1996 there
were fires in Texas and we could not get hold of one of the Texas Shelters
so we called the Save the Greyhound association (which is HUGE) and they put
us in contact with one of the Texas Greyhound shelters, that shelter in turn
found the Ferret Shelter.  It happened that there was a Greyhound shelter
not far from the Ferret shelter but the Greyhound Association was unable to
reach that shelter -- so the Ferret Shelter that the Greyhounds had found
safe and sound went over to check on the Greyhound shelter.  This is how it
works -- everyone helping.
 
Last month (July 6th to be exact) we got our very own web site and that has
made a great improvement on preparedness as well as response.
 
As always we use the United Animal Nations Emergency Animal Response Service
(UANEARS) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and our Ferret
people and Shelters to get supplies where they are needed.
 
I hope this clarifies some of the questions you may have.
 
One last note: The listing with the address' and phone numbers ARE NEVER
GIVEN OUT COMMERCIALLY we only use these listings during disasters and the
only persons with the listings are the Coordinators.  We have one exception
regarding ferret havens in the state of California the ONLY person who has
the California contacts is the California Coordinator (this is to protect
the ferrets in California).
 
Thank you for your time
 
Chere McCoy
Director, Ferret Friends Disaster Response International
[Posted in FML issue 2415]