Being a shelter operator and a pessimist, I'm used to being disappointed with the general public and their level of commitment. It is not at all unusual to have people not show up for their appointment or not even call to say they will not make it, even though they agreed with me about how inconsiderate that is when they made the appointment and they would NEVER be like that, but that means nothing in reality, they don't show and don't call. I've been thinking about charging a deposit that they get back when they call or show up (just kidding). Anyway, I'm used to that kind of disappointment, but I'm not used to being disappointed by fellow ferret advocates and even shelter operators. This was the first year Cascade Ferret Network has participated in the Giving Tree. Most of the ferrets got responses quickly from several people wanting to be their Santa's, but I thought it was fair to only let the first request be the santa, so the others were encouraged to pick another ferret from the tree. As the season progressed, I read several posts from people that were disappointed that the shelter they had sent a donation to hadn't acknowledged receiving it, but I haven't seen any shelters mention being disappointed that the people that promised to send something to these poor shelter babies never followed through with their commitment. Of the 5 ferrets picked (out of the over 100 ferrets in the shelter) to be on the Giving Tree, only 2 have gotten anything from the people that promised to be their Santa (thank you Sarah Coleman and Carrie G. for your gifts to Timone and Tucson). After Christmas I emailed the people that asked to be the ferret's santa and they promised they were still going to send something, after another few weeks of nothing, I emailed again, no response this time. Very discouraging, two of them are even fellow shelter operators. I have also been disappointed at the response so far with the Cascade Ferret Network web cam contest. I thought a $25 gift certificate to the ferret store would be a great incentive to get people to visit the web cam and see what kind of fun image they could send as a entry in the contest. To date we have only gotten one entry and one entry does not a contest make. Maybe everyone is waiting until the last minute to send the images they have captured. The contest goes on until the end of February, so please visit the Cascade Ferret Network web page (www.cascadeferret.org) throughout the day (morning, Pacific time, is the best time to see the most action) to capture a fun image and maybe win $25 in merchandise from the ferret store. The play room changes every week or so and the archive usually has a few fun images, so check it out! Elayne Barclay Network Coordinator Cascade Ferret Network www.cascadeferret.org [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 4045]