Rae wrote:
>You know, that's a thought.  Couldn't we possibly start our own financial
>pool for surgeries and charity care to help people who can't meet the
 
That has been checked into something like twice, and both times found to
not be feasible.  Here are some of the reasons why: most people did not
want to do it -- largely for the very reasons uncovered when interested
parties looked into it so the pool would be too small, the pool of
interested parties was mostly composed of those who did not have enough
cash to start with so they couldn't contribute enough, there is no way for
the FML to differentiate between real need and those trying to pull a scam,
there is the problem of what happens with distribution if there are a lot
of requests -- who makes the choices and how are those choices done when
one party has a lot of money already received or when there are more
requests than cash, a number of people already have their own ways devised
to handle this need, embezzlement could be a very real problem, suits
against those making distribution choices could be a problem, etc.  There
was a much longer string of reasons to not do it than these; these are just
the ones I remember.  I can't recall if this was discussed publicly or
privately, but you might want to check back FMLs to look into any public
comments on the topic if they exist.
 
Appetite (general comments): in severe health situations see if Winstrol is
a possibility.  (It will not be for all ferrets or all health problems.)
Jealousy works well, as does singing.  Patience is often the the most
essential aspect when finger of spoon feeding; it does take a long while.
Appetite reduces markedly if dehydrated, and dehydration is extremely
dangerous so be careful to tackle that.
 
From your description I assume that these critters have short legs but
their bodies are long.  Is that right?  I'd be inclined in this case to
think of insect larvae of a beetle or moth which eats cloth.  There is an
assortment, with the sizes of the larvae varying from quite small to
rather large.  If ferret crunchies had been stashed nearby that could also
increase the problem.  If tiny, dark, thin then have your ferrets checked
by the vet for fleas and treat according to what the vet says to do since
many flea treatments are too dangerous for ferrets.  In either case, wash
the clothing several times and check clothing elsewhere.  Then take
whatever actions you deem appropriate.
 
I think that some folks are having trouble separating some issues.  One
is: do things like separate back accounts and governmental filing make
something a shelter?  No, not necessarily, although the second may be a
useful indication in some locations of whether the shelter is INSPECTED by
the state since people inclined to go for tax exempt status may also be
more inclined to go for being official and living up to state standards
for health and cleanliness.
 
I do NOT think that is what some of the writers were talking about.  Money
is a limited resources for most of us (sure is for us).  Therefore, I can
definitely understand any FML member wanting to be able to verify a place
before giving there.  It's only good logic.  People want to put their money
where it will do the most good, and they do not know many of the people
here (plus, some who request funds are new) so they want to be careful.
They are NOT UNgenerous -- obviously people who give are kind souls, but
they want to be both generous and careful that their generosity isn't
accompanied by carelessness.  Let's look at what could result from
carelessness: the money will never help any ferrets only will enrich
crooks, the person often won't be financially able to make a repeat
donation to a place which DOES help ferrets.  I see NOTHING wrong with
someone wanting ways to verify before donating.  Now, we HAVE given to
places and people which are hard to verify because we already well KNOW
the people involved, but we have about 3,000 members on the FML, many new.
Obviously, even though it is a pain in the wazoo to make places verifiable
it's also plain as the nose on your face that things have gotten well past
the point where everyone here used to know everyone else here, so it's only
logical for shelters to do things designed to make their identities more
verifiable simply to suit the increasing size of the ferret community.
It's annoying but eminently practical.
 
Meanwhile, people have to be careful to not assume (especially in public
comment) that anyone or anything is a scam while also recalling that scams
do happen and that the Internet is practically bulging at the seams with
them recently, so precautions have to be taken unless an individual has
lot of spare cash to throw around.
 
A third issue: tax deductibility doesn't make a shelter any better but I
certainly can see where people whose finances might need some extra
donations would find it useful to seek these out at times, so it can
increase donations theoretically.
[Posted in FML issue 2878]