Sandi wrote yesterday:
>Subject: Re: Animal Control and shelters
>
>I cannot tell you how totally insulted and indignant I became when I
>read the post from Betty <[log in to unmask]> who wrote: ...
>Betty obviously doesn't understand the first thing about any non-profit
>organization and certainly not about ferret shelters.  These fundraisers
>aren't to support our trips to Europe or South America, they're not to
>make the car payments for our Mercedes.
 
I would encourage you to read my post again.  I never mentioned anything
about supporting trips or cars.  And I certainly never used the term
"profit" and it wasn't implied either.  What I proposed is that this
shelter may have taken in these ferrets without the best intentions in
mind.  I asked a *question* on the financial stability of this other
shelter.
 
I'll clarify some things for you Sandi.  The shelter in question does not
have the numbers that are commonly seen in the US.  This shelter has
presently 12 ferrets listed on its website... far from the vast numbers
listed on the FML here with other shelters.  My own home has close to 30
ferrets, so 12 is a drop in the bucket considering they are split up into
different foster homes and considering they are mostly young and healthy
ferrets.
 
I understand perfectly how a non-profit is run.  It's based on compassion
and numbers.  A shelter cannot operate in a deficit.  It has to bring in
money in order to buy basics like food and litter if they do not get the
donations they desperately rely upon.  If a shelter is spending its
fundraising dollars unwisely, then they have to reevaluate how they spend
their money.  For example, spending $1200 on advertising is ridiculous
considering that there are plenty of ways to advertise for free.
Secondly, money like this would have been best used to care for medical
bills or even on the basics.  A shelter is responsible to the ferrets in
its care.  But it is also responsible to the community who supports the
fundraisers to use the funds appropriately, and to the people who
surrender the ferrets to look after the best interests of their ferrets.
It has a serious job of keeping its financials in check and to make sure
that when they say they can help the ferrets, that they are not merely
empty words.
 
Toys, accessories and bedding are donated in our city to both rescues.
When their isn't enough bedding, there are generous and kind volunteers
who sew them up for us.  Without them, the ferrets wouldn't be warm and
comfortable.  They are true saints!  Cages are usually surrendered with
the ferrets and so no money goes out to those things either.  Our shelter
has many ferrets in long term care.  It is our fundraising efforts that
help to give all the ferrets the life they deserve.  Adoption fees
supplement the medical care.  They don't cover the medical expenses
incurred, and thus the need for fundraisers all through the year.
Putting these on is a lot of hard work.
 
We have no paid volunteers what so ever, and neither does this other
shelter.  If they did, then again, I would say that they are not using
their funds wisely, especially on 12 ferrets.  My husband and I look
after nearly 30 ferrets with no paid volunteers.  So if we can do it
with 30, they can certainly do it with 12.
 
Our adoption contract also states the same things as yours and so ferrets
get returned to us as well.  There are no shelters that I am aware of
that have kept every single ferret that they have taken in from the very
beginning.  The truth is that ferrets do get adopted out all the time as
are there surrenders coming in all the time.  Our responsibility is to
make sure that we manage the flow responsibly by making sure that the
community is aware that we have ferrets up for adoption and that we
provide a service to aid them in looking after these same ferrets.  And
our responsibility is also to care for those that have been dumped on our
doorstep because no one else wanted that responsibility.
 
When you state that "Our surrender agreement states that the ferret
will not be returned to the ex-owner under any circumstances!", all I can
say is that by spending your energy trying to convince the owner that
surrendering is the last resort, that you may have done more than what
this other shelter did according to the woman who has lost two ferrets.
Our policy too is to make sure that this is what the owner truly wants.
But I also understand that sometimes people get into a situation that is
forced upon them and they need some time to put some distance between
them and the people who are doing the forcing.  And thus a time for
reconsidering that surrendering is indeed the right thing to do.  Regret
is a long and painful pill to swallow.
 
Sandi, you need to understand that this is *one* shelter that is being
discussed... not yours, or anyone you know.  This is a discussion on
whether or not this *one* shelter did the right thing.  You also need to
understand that not all shelters are run the same way.  This discussion
is not open for debate of any other shelter except this one and we need
to keep it to that.  For it is a solution for this shelter and the people
involved that I am looking for.
 
Betty Janner
Manager of Calgary Operations
Alberta Ferret Society
[Posted in FML issue 3929]