Well .. after a bit of careful consideration today, and discussion with a
couple of other SOS and non-SOS people, I came to the conclusion that we
need to take a new approach to helping the Resnicks.
 
I think we can all agree, regardless of our personal feelings about the
way they run their shelter, that their ferrets need help.  They have at
least 60 (and possibly more than 80) unvaccinated ferrets, and they have
also said that they are overwhelmed with caring for the animals.  They
have talked about possibly giving up sheltering.
 
And as several people have mentioned, they have the possibility of
becoming the "next big" New Jersey rescue.  What is really scary about
that is that most of our other shelters in New Jersey are full right
now, and nobody really has the resources to take in 80 or so ferrets ..
particularly when they are unvaccinated!
 
This whole discussion started with a note from Steve to SOS requesting
help for the shelter.  While at first the dialogue started out pretty
productive and the Resnicks were very cooperative and forthcoming with
information, a lot has transpired since then.  Other issues have been
dragged in, some misinformation has been tossed about, and it's getting
complicated.
 
I think the best thing to do now would be to take this issue back to
being a private matter.  I will call the Resnicks myself to try to get
answers that SOS needs.d I will work with a limited group of people on
trying to make progress towards helping the ferrets and averting a large
scale rescue.
 
I'm still happy to take constructive advice on dealing with this, and
would welcome it!  My email address is [log in to unmask]  And should it
turn out that we can use a pool of volunteers, I will post that here,
too!
 
- Ela
[Posted in FML issue 4309]