The members of Support Our Shelters were concerned to read Sandi
Robinson's post that referred to SOS.

The first thing we'd like to say in response is that we are very sorry
Sandi has had to close her shelter. We have been happy to support her
over the years because we believe she has done her best for the
ferrets. We sympathize with the stress and sadness of what she is going
through in closing down and understand that this is a very emotional
time. We also thank her for the compliment to our work.

Because she also publicly complained about our not getting back to her
promptly, we feel that we should address the issue. Sandi did not have
internet available to her and asked a friend to ask us for help. Her
friend emailed Sharon, and Sharon replied that we would get back to
her. So Sharon did let her friend know that we had received the request
and would respond again soon. Maybe Sandi did not get that message from
her friend. Sharon asked me on Wednesday to call Sandi about this, but
I was frantically preparing to be away for a 4-day conference Friday
through Monday and I didn't make the call. In the meantime, Sharon knew
people who had recently helped Sandi and did not have the impression
that this was an emergency. She also was not aware that I would be away
for 4 days.

It is rather saddening to have someone complain to our ferret community
about a situation that they do not address with us directly. Why email
a public group instead of emailing or calling one of us? Give us a
chance to respond, please.

And please remember that all of us are volunteers with other jobs,
obligations and duties. In my case, I have three part-time jobs and one
volunteer activity besides SOS. Because it has become difficult to keep
up, we recently added Renee Downs to SOS as a member of our Board of
Directors. But adding one more volunteer part-time person who has
significant duties elsewhere will not create miracles. We will still
have to juggle to get things done.

I do not want this post to be part of a continuing public discussion.
I would hate to see people take sides, especially if anyone would
criticize Sandi when she is having a hard enough time. Please let this
drop here as far as public comment goes. Anyone who wants to email us
privately will receive a reply. Criticism and suggestions are welcome
from anyone who will talk with us directly.

If you are a shelter and you need something from SOS, please ask. If
you don't get a response, please ask again -- maybe a different member
of SOS the second time. If you have an emergency, tell us it is an
emergency. We want to be asked. We don't mind being reminded. And we
do prefer to be treated like a group of volunteers, not paid employees.

We also love what we do, and we admire the shelter operators beyond
words, including Sandi.

Judith White

~~~~~ Support Our Shelters ~~~~~
                100 Walsh Road
           Lansdowne, PA 19050
                  610-626-6647

Helping the Shelters of the Ferret Mailing List
          www.SupportOurShelters.org

Ask me how you can help a shelter near you.

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[Posted in FML 7128]