Ahhh, the joy of educating...
 
On Friday, the News & Observer's "What's Up" weekend section listed The
Ferret Guardian Rescue Haven & Triangle Ferret Lovers club's Adoption Day
on the second page.  Very prominent position.  Unfortunately, they also
listed my employer's phone number (*without* listing me as contact person)
to call for questions.
 
My employer's business telephone line received over 50 calls beginning at
8:30am and on the answering machine.  Some of the more interesting
questions/statements from callers were:
 
"How much do they cost?"
"Will you have ferrets there?"
"Are they nice or vicious?"
"How much do they cost?"
"Can you tell me what ferrets are like?"
"My 9 & 7yo want a ferret.  Do you think I should get them one?"
"How much do they cost?"
"I used to have 5 ferrets. [Used to, what happened?] Well, they
just kinda died off."
"What are each of the available ferrets' personality?"
 
 ...and so on.
 
I was in charge of setup/breakdown.  Diane Campbell arrived at 9:45am with
people actually following her into the store trying to get answers to
questions about the ferrets.  First, we had to get the ferrets out of her
car!  I got a call from Aleshia at 2pm - they had *run out* of Adoption
Applications (30), Membership Applications, and the Aug/Sept Newsletter!
Besides caretaking a local zoo, I drove to my office to make more copies
and deliver.
 
The media is a very powerful tool.  Our short-handed volunteers were swamped
with questions ranging from:
 
"So what's the deal with the Rabies Law?"
"I don't want the pair Blizzard & Cocoa, just Cocoa. [The shelter will
 not break up a pair.   Why not!?"
"How much do they cost?"
"I've heard they are very destructive."
 
This is why we hold events - to educate the public about ferrets.  We need
volunteers for these events.  Please consider helping out for 3-4 hours at
our upcoming events: Reptile & Exotic Animal Show, Bake Sale, School
Education Day, and another Adoption Day.
 
A big "Thank You!" goes to our volunteers - Aleshia & Wynn, Cindy
B., Caity Martin, Matt & Dan Herr.
 
Shari Gunter
Club Contact
Triangle Ferret Lovers club, NC
http://www.trifl.org
 
[Posted in FML issue 2404]