I agree with BIG on the SOS and rescue stuff...the ferrets are the most
important and politics shouldn't matter, however, in this case the
"politics" and way things were presented completely over-shadowed the
validity of the information, which hinders helping the ferrets.  All I
know is that this type of information about another shelter only hurts
the ferrets.  An example would be people hearing bad things about a
shelter or shelter operator and then deciding not to adopt or help the
ferrets that reside there.  I don't agree with it, but it does happen.
How is that good?
 
I am raising these issues so that people can think about it.  Again, I am
sure Lisa is a good shelter mom, and I am not advocating that she isn't,
just that she shouldn't have presented the information the way she did.
 
I recd an email from someone (who may even post it here) who spoke of
their experiences with Carole McCraig.  This person went on to describe
the out-building and the entire shelter situation.  It certainly does not
sound like it is a bad place to me.  I also found it interesting that
this person told me that Lisa Leidig has given some ferrets to this same
shelter (about two years ago) because she couldn't keep them.  I do recall
Lisa saying that she had as many ferrets as she could handle (28?) and
that she couldn't handle taking more (especially geriatric ferrets).  I
was also told that Carole had called Lisa for advice on zoning because
Lisa has apparently already done the research and homework on it and that
is the only reason she called Lisa - not to dump the ferrets.  Lisa had
mentioned that the reason given was that Carole had gotten into a squabble
with her neighbor and that is why the authorities were involved.  At least
we recd half of the story but the other half about her wanting to close
her doors was simply a rumor.  I don't know who started the rumor, but
whoever got Lisa all riled up, should be ashamed.
 
All I am saying to everyone is to look at both sides AND consider that
these are both shelters in the same area and there could be personal (not
about ferrets) gripes that lead to the announcement.  The announcement
turned out to be bogus, so I am leaning towards what this other non-biased
party told me.  This party told me that they don't understand why Lisa has
a beef with Carole and that they feel BOTH shelters are good.  I also recd
an email that Lisa had written on another board about this.  She said she
would not talk about it any further.  This seems odd considering how
verbose she was about it at the symposium.
 
The good thing that did come out of this was that SOS raised more funds.
People should contribute whether there is an emergency or not, throughout
the year.
 
Shelters do not need negative speculation that is unfounded.  They don't
need the extra stress.  Please, people, before jumping to conclusions
based on what ONE person claims, find out more information.  That is what
should have been done instead of creating "hysteria".
 
This is my last post on the topic.  I hope the person who has been to both
Lisa's and Carole's shelters will post (anon or otherwise).
 
Take care.
[Posted in FML issue 3690]