>From:    Debbie Riccio <[log in to unmask]>
>IMO, I think it's inappropriate.  There are many shelters on this list -
>and all of them struggle to care for their charges....
 
Debbie, I have to agree with you.  We are usually in a financial bind of
some kind but I would never post his because I really would feel like a
cheezeball for asking for money.  I find it uncomfortable to be asked for
money myself, therefore I can't see myself reversing the position of the
asker and askee.  But I do think it's a good idea to post more of what goes
on in our shelters and give people a better idea of the perils we shelter
operators face, so here's our story over the last few months.
 
We are the only active shelter in Vanouver (there is another in the suburbs
but nobody seems to be able to contact them) so we are extremely busy.  In
the last 4 weeks we had over 20 ferrets come through, which for some
shelters is a pittance but for us is astronomical.  Thus, we had to buy
cages to accomodate them since virtually everyone came in as a single.
Three cages later, our fund was seriously depleted.  Then a rescue brought
in an odd strain of diahrrea that everybody caught.  We spent several
hundred dollars in medications, vet visits, fecal cultures, anti-dehydration
supplies etc.  It wasn't too bad of a diahrrea, but it spread like wildfire
so we had to be careful.  The whole shelter had to be santized (No fun!).
 
Then we got Mickey, a $300.00 adrenalectomy who, because of his age, we can
charge almost nothing for.  We also got in several older ferrets, who we
only foster out to homes and don't charge for because of their ages, so
while they ate and pooped and took up cages, we received no financial
renumeration for them.  We were down to virtually nothing in our shelter
account, and then we adopted out a a few ferrets and brought the total up a
bit.  Then yesterday - disaster.  Diahrrea reared it's ugly head again and
off to the vet we went, along with a jill who we were worried about that
might have a vaginal infection.  That was a nice big vet bill, only to come
home to a message waiting from someone who had to return two recently
adopted rescues that weren't working out.  Of course, that money was spent
so we dug into our own personal funds and hoped the shelter would be able to
reimburse us later.  Somewhere in between these events we were called to
pick up a female wandering the streets, in raging heat with blisters and
burns on her feet from walking on the hot pavement.  She cost us a fortune.
 
I have ferrets in the ferret room, in the computer room, on the stairwell,
in the storage closet (door open of course) and in the living room.  We
never seem to get ahead and it can be very depressing.  At the moment we
have only a few rescues in the shelter, but we still have the yucky poop
syndrome circulating among my own gang.  Do we need money?  Of course we do.
But we don't ask and we don't even expect people to offer.  It's just nice
when it does.
 
Like Debbie said, support your local shelter if you can, don't *just*
respond to pleas on the FML and send your money halfway across the country
when you can help someone local.  We are pretty good in the supplies
department - a woman recently donated a bunch of food and litter to us - but
we can use cash always.  We do a dance of joy when someone comes through and
helps.  Maybe someone in your neighborhood will do a dance of joy for you,
if you offer them some aid.
 
Sheena
Director-Wherret Ferrets Halfway House
Ferret Association of Greater Vancouver
 
PS - please don't bombard me with e-mails that the diarhea we have is ECE.
It isn't, and I don't want Vancouver residents to start worrying there is
ECE here.
[Posted in FML issue 1607]