Regarding the topic about starting some sort of fund to pay for ferret care
when their people cannot afford it... I think there is another way besides
throwing money into a pot.  Here in MN there is an organization called the
Animal Care Foundation.  They are a group which provides free vet care to
one pet of any disabled person for as long as they need help.  They
(actually I think this operation is run by one person) say they have helped
3000 disabled people in Hennepin County to obtain vet care for their
companion animal by setting up a network of veterinarians that donate a set
amount of their services per year.  This organization understands the bond
between people and the beasts that they care for and they understand that
separating a loving animal and a loving human can have dire consequences
(emotionally and then physically - for both) and strive to keep them
together.  Without this service many disabled people would have to give up
their pets as they would not be able to afford the proper care.  They say
that sometimes the help is longterm for the animals life, and other times
they just help with one procedure that the person cannot afford.  Anyways, I
don't know all of the details, but as I understand it this group not only
has vets donating their services but in order for the vet to donate a
service the vet also needs to make a $150/year membership donation in order
to be part of the network.  So, not only has this group convinced people to
donate their time and expertise, they have also convinced them it is such a
worthy cause that they have to pay money in order to have the privilege to
serve them.  WOW!  What an accomplishment!  (They say the $150/yr fee paid
by vets is to pay for administrative fees like phone bills, etc).  This
group screens people requesting help to ensure that the need is there and
this sounds like a rigorous task.  So, one idea would be to start developing
some relationships with vets around the world and see if we can't find some
willing to donate services.  We could get a mission statement together and
get it electronically available.  FML members or whoever can access it,
print it out and next time they go to their vet hand them a copy of the
mission statement and say a few words encouraging them to become a member of
the network.  I have a great relationship with my vet and cannot imagine
them turning me down.  I think we have lots of people here with great
relationships with their vets.  Perhaps no one in the vets area would need
help that year and the vet would be out nothing.  Perhaps a person would
need help paying for a $300 adrenal surgery and they visit the network vet
for the donated surgery.  They are so happy they will probably go back to
this vet time and time again for routine vaccs and such and recommend him to
all of their friends as being a caring vet.  Another idea perhaps is a
bartering idea - newsletters, magazines, electronic mailing lists, whoever,
whatever could donate to the organization a certain amount of "free"
advertising to vets and in return the vet would provide "free" services to
the organization.  Or howabout some value added service: like a ferret
medical care newsletter that the vets in the network received free if they
became members.  Okay, then the other idea I had is a little different.
There are people all over the place that can't afford to pay their bills and
are unable to negotiate with their creditors - what do many of them do?
They go to a credit counselor who calls up their creditors and negotiates
payment plans for them.  The creditors usually agree because A) they have a
relationship with the counselor B) the credit counselor has done this before
and knows the ropes aka knows who to talk to and how to phrase their
queries, etc.  Because of the relationship or the skill, the counselor is
usually able to not only strike up a payment plan but also get a discounted
interest rate and an extended grace period, etc, etc... Perhaps we can set
up a counseling service like this - John Smith goes to vet with sick freddy
ferret, vet says $500, John Smith says couldn't you make me a payment plan
couldn't you give me a discount, vet says no, John tells Ferret Counselor
vet said $500 no ifs ands or buts, Credit Counselor calls up vet and
negotiates successfully for either payment plan or discount because A) they
have a relationship with the vet or B) they are a skilled negotiator.  Of
course, I am just sort of brainstorming here and haven't even touched on the
many details that would go into all of the ideas.  So anyways my opinion is
that hard work never killed anybody, helping need not make you a chump,
people and their beloved beasts should not be separated due to financial
hardship, people don't need money so much as people need people.
 
Charlene
 
P.S. To donate to Animal Care Foundation, P.O. Box 24525, Edina Branch PO,
3948 W 49 1/2 St, Edina, MN 55424.
[Posted in FML issue 1564]