Q: "I'm thinking of starting up a shelter, and I wondered if you had any
rules or advice on starting one up?"
A: I have so much advice, I could be your Dutch uncle...
I was going to wait to answer this AFTER the enrichment series, but this
only requires a single post and the question is time sensitive, so I'll
post it right away. I am going to open a big can-o-worms, and someone
might want to open a big can-o-kick-ass, but since this is my OPINION,
I'll post it anyway.
1. IF there is a shelter in your area (say, 50 miles or so), DO NOT open
a second one! You may not like the people running them, you may be even
fighting with them, but this is about the ferrets, not about your ego.
There are limited resources in ANY community, and opening a second
shelter only divides them, divides cooperation, and divides the loyalties
of potential volunteers. In major cities, competing shelters MIGHT
coexist, but even so, resources are scant, help a precious commodity, and
homeless ferrets are plentiful. I suggest you dump the ego, ignore your
emotional baggage, and do WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THE FERRETS! It is better to
fix an existing shelter than it is to start a second one.
2. DO NOT open a shelter UNTIL you have the financial backing in place
FIRST! This may mean starting a club to fund the shelter, taking out a
second mortgage, selling some of your property or children to create a
veterinary fund, or even working part-time in a brothel, but if you don't
have this part figured out at the very beginning, your shelter will
consume your personal resources and you will slowly decline into a state
of poverty, build crushing debt, and ultimately close the shelter. Don't
believe it? Read the archives of the FML, where such a process seems to
take between 3-5 years from the effervescent start of the shelter to the
depressed "please someone take my ferrets because the shelter is closing"
post.
3. Running a shelter is TWO FULL-TIME JOBS, so expect ferrets will
become your entire life. Remember vacations? Who will care for the
ferrets? Remember nights off? Who will clean or exercise the ferrets?
Remember new clothes? Who will pay for a ferret's surgery? Remember
having a couple hundred bucks to blow on music CDs? Who will pay for the
litter, or the chow, or the bedding, or the soap to wash the bedding?
Get the point? I raised 4 kids, and the time and work taking care of
ferrets in a shelter makes that experience pale by comparison.
4. GET HELP! You simply cannot do it alone. EVERY shelter operator
that has tried has failed. Someone has to step in if you get sick or
die, so don't start a shelter until you have that problem solved.
IF there is NO shelter close by, IF you have the time, if you have help,
and IF you have figured out how to finance the shelter, THEN read on.
Otherwise, go back to the first rule.
5. NEVER adopt a ferret to someone who is not willing to take a class on
how to care for them, EVEN if they are clearly well educated about the
pet. This isn't about knowledge, but rather about the willingness to
learn. The questions and answers raised by a group of potential ferret
owners--new OR experienced--can help everyone, even those experienced
shelter operators listening on the sidelines. Besides, it is a wonderful
way to recruit volunteers and club members.
6. NEVER wave an adoption fee (or even part of one), BUT allow adopters
to work off the fee in the shelter, or give discounts to club membership.
Money is a sick ferret's life-blood; DO NOT SQUANDER it!
7. GET SPONSORS! I can't give specific advice for this because it
depends on the economic base of the community, local businesses, and
YOUR ability not to come off like a nut. Just find someone good at
begging and set 'em loose.
8. Move the ferrets out of the central facility into the homes of
volunteers as soon as possible. Costs are less, the volunteers feel
like they are doing something worthwhile, your problems of communicable
disease is lessened, AND it makes clean-up and maintenance of the central
facility much easier. PLUS, it is much better on the ferrets, increasing
their chance of enrichment, exercise and human-ferret interaction.
9. Enrichment should be as much a priority as vet care, food, bedding,
and exercise. Skimp on none.
10. Stop being an ass and start kissing them. I *AM* serious! If you
are a shelter operator, your first priority should be the needs of the
ferrets in your care, NOT your ego or your sensibilities. You will find
it difficult to keep volunteers, get funds, or convince a vet to give
discounted or free care if you are abrasive or needlessly blunt. If
you want a wide range of people to like you and follow your lead, then
learn the three rules of politics: I like what you say, I like what you
believe, and I like you. And smile a lot.
These are OPINIONS, and you may or may not agree. Que sera, sera. Some
shelter operators may offer more specific advice and I welcome their
comments.
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4199]
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