Jean, thanks for sharing your plan for your shelter.  I sent this to the
FML yesterday, but it didn't show up, so am sending again.
 
Selena posted:
 
>please share your experiences if you already have a separate building
>for your shelter or sanctuary.
 
Back in 1998 when I first started rescuing ferrets we built a twenty by
forty foot addition onto the detached garage.  This shelter building had
it's own heat and central air, water and sewer, water heater, phone and
Internet capabilities (drawn from sources inside our home).  No separate
water, gas or electric meters were installed to measure use, and we opted
not to have a restroom in the shelter due to installation cost, loss of
usable space, and I did NOT want one more bathroom to clean!  The shelter
is probably only twenty or thirty feet from the house.  There is an
intercom between the shelter and the house.
 
When we built the shelter, we added a wall to make a back room that was
six feet wide and twenty feet across.  We have the furnace, water heater,
washer and dryer, an outside door for egress, and food storage in this
climate controlled area.  We also walled off a ten by ten foot area for
storage of litter, extra cages and other things like cleaning supplies,
and installed an overhead garage door to the outside.  This area is not
temperature controlled.  The shelter area has a wall of upper and lower
cabinets and a counter top with two sinks.  One is a normal kitchen sink
for water bottles and food dishes and the second is a laundry sink for
litter pans.  It has a small refrigerator and microwave.  It didn't
take long to realize we made two major mistakes.  First there was no
quarantine room, and the second was no bathroom.  If memory serves me
correctly, this building cost us around thirty to thirty-five thousand
dollars to complete.  In June of 1999 we moved my 16 rescues into my new
little bit of heaven on earth.  Ferrety treasures went up on the walls
and decorated the desk.
 
Within months my little shelter had grown to twice the number of ferrets.
Now, averaging around thirty ferrets, the spacious room wasn't so
spacious.  All the wall space was taken and we were stacking a few cages.
It wasn't long before we were bouncing between thirty-five and fifty-plus
ferrets, ongoing, and cages now were being stacked.  Midwest cages were
divided.  When we ran out of room with the cages stacked two high, a
third tier of smaller cages for singles were set on top when needed.  We
ended up operating a dual shelter with ADV negative ferrets housed in the
shelter and the ADV positives in the house.  All positives have since
passes away.  We tested all ferrets at intake, quarterly, and again at
adoption.  We never found any contagion, nor did we ever hear of any of
our adopted ferrets having ADV nor testing positive after they left.  Our
highest number of ferrets was seventy-four in 2001.
 
In 2002, I began to press toward direct placement for several reasons.
First, I felt it might be easier on the ferret to go directly from one
home into another, missing all the stress and potential exposure to
things I'd run across in the shelter environment.  The second was cost.
I was spending several thousand dollars a month on keeping the shelter
afloat.  I looked at ways to cut costs.  I started providing Rabies
vaccinations, which were not required for my state, county or
municipality, only to the ferrets that were being adopted into areas
that required rabies vaccinations.  ADV testing was only done at intake,
and I utilized direct placement.  I didn't cut back on any surgeries nor
medical care.  To generate funds, I sold shelter mix, and refurbished
surrendered cages to sell.  We also boarded ferrets.  I thought we were
doing pretty good, but it was still costing us an average loss of eighty
dollars for each ferret we took in (eighty-eight that year).  This didn't
even take into consideration any costs for transportation, utilities,
taxes or insurance types of expenses.
 
I also moved about this time, and since I left the shelter in it's
registered location, it meant I traveled back and forth (13 minute
commute) to care for them.  This soon became unmanageable because if a
ferret was sick or on meds more than twice a day, I needed to keep them
with me or make multiple trips more than just for morning meds, play
times and cleaning, then again for bedtimes meds and play times.  I soon
had more ferrets in my home than in the shelter facility.  Despite not
being zoned properly in town, I moved the rest of the ferrets into my
home with me and stayed very low key.  I left the shelter's legal address
at the physical location of the building for probably another two years.
I had between twelve to twenty ferrets during these years.
 
From the very beginning, any time a ferret was ill enough to need
overnight care, the ferret went into the house with me, or after I
moved into town, home with me.  I never found a ferret that had passed
away alone.  I never once came into the shelter to find one in crisis.
Maybe I was lucky.  I like to think I was in tune with each one enough to
spot trouble before it got serious.  However, I have needed to get up in
the middle of the night before, and give furosemide to a cardiomyopathy
ferret when they were coughing, so there is value to being within hearing
distance of them at night.
 
During the 4 years the shelter building was empty, it still had to be
heated in the winter to prevent damage to the building and cooled
somewhat in the summer for the same reason.  The shelter had to be
maintained regardless if it was occupied or not.  It was still a huge
investment that had to be protected.  Taxes on the property tripled to
over three thousand dollars a year, as they did a county wide
re-assessment the year after it was built, and they listed it as a
'workshop'.  Insurance was a touchy thing as they did not want to insure
us if ferrets were involved, nor a 'business'.  They became 'personal'
and the shelter was a 'hobby'.  Risky, maybe, but better than no
insurance.  We were lucky and never had any 'negative' incidents.
 
During the years we had the shelter in full operation, we had a wonderful
staff of volunteers.  One was full time and knew all the operations.  We
could leave for a vacation or go to ferret shows leaving Ann in charge
knowing the ferrets would be cared for.  We had numerous volunteers that
were teens and older elementary school age kids.  We would start in the
shelter at 8:00 AM and work until around 11:00 PM.  My husband would
often bring out lunch for us.  Most evenings we would take a two hour
break and take anyone that was 'working' out to dinner with us.  It was
a very social experience and the bond between us, the volunteers and the
ferrets was deep and precious.
 
My 'shelter' is a haven for me and a ferret proof amusement park for the
ferrets.  Since it is mainly one large room, I can only accommodate one
play group at a time, which is a real disadvantage.  I also outgrew it
within months.  I think the same would happen with any facility you might
design and build unless it was made large enough to begin with OR
designed in a way that would enable expansion.  The alternative is to
find a way to keep your population low by setting a limit and sticking
with it.  Be creative about finding ways to help families.  Most direct
placements I've done, the families have been very willing to look at
other options.
 
It has cost us a lot, financially, to have this extra building to house
the shelter.  Fortunately, we have been financially able, so far, to
afford the extra costs that are almost like a second home.  Some homes
aren't much larger than eight hundred square feet.
 
Since my shelter building is within walking distance from my front door,
it is manageable.  I did NOT find it worked well for me when I had to
drive to it, even though it was less than a 15 minute drive.  These are
things that will need to be looked at if a free-standing facility is
pursued by anyone.  Maybe the Chicago Shelter could give some feedback as
I'm under the impression they have a 'store front operation'.  We did get
some donations, but never enough to begin to take care of the ferrets'
needs, let alone the building upkeep costs associated with our little
shelter.  We did have a good volunteer base when we were in full
operation.  I think part of the reason for this was because it WAS in a
dedicated structure along with the fact we treated our volunteers very
well.  I always took time to talk and listen to them.  They needed my
attention and to feel appreciated, too.
 
One more thing I'd like to mention is the burn out that shelter operators
experience due to financial drain, emotional drain and becoming
physically exhausted.  Shelter operators MUST look at THEIR OWN needs,
too, and take them into consideration.  I periodically push direct
placement, taking in only extremely ill ferrets or hardship cases,
opting to direct place all others or referring them to their nearest
shelter (if there is one).  It gives me a chance to recharge my
emotional and financial batteries.
 
I'm currently up to around twenty ferrets.  I'm finding that the
eight hundred square feet I have to work with is ideal for twenty to
twenty-five ferrets without overcrowding.  Like Kat and others are
saying, we need adoptive families, not bigger shelters to house them.
We need better ways of fund raising to help the families that are taking
in these homeless ferrets into their homes so they can afford decent food
and medical care for the ferrets in their care.  Have all the shelters
that are 501(c)3 checked to see if there is any money available to them
through their local charities?
 
Before anyone chooses to build a free standing facility, it needs to be
carefully thought out and whoever is responsible for it needs to be sure
they will be able to afford the costs like taxes (Jean already addressed
this for her situation), insurance, utilities and upkeep because those
likely will be expenses donations will NOT come in for, and they will
increase over time.
 
Each shelter has the right to do what they feel meets their needs.
However, each needs to assess what they can consistently afford and can
handle on their own without further taxing the ferret community with the
facilities' operating costs.
 
Julie Fossa
FL (772)228-9067 winters
OH (419)225-8383 summers
West Central Ohio Ferret Shelter
http://www.wcofs.org
International Ferret Congress
http://ferretcongress.org/
[Posted in FML issue 5340]