This shelter operator met her first ferret in 1978. It was another 15 years, however, before she became a ferret owner. Since then more than 500 have crossed her threshold. Perhaps one of the reasons for her work on legalization and law making issues regarding ferrets is that it did take so long. The state of New Hampshire had an 1831 law on the books classifying ferrets as wildlife and limiting their use to rabbit hunting. Within months of legalization ferrets in NH - they were being tossed out when landlords did not allow - the local humane shelter refused to take the beasts in. The rescue-transport was born out of necessity -- and in 18 months a shelter was established. Known to a select few as Mom and grandma, in the ferret world this woman wears many different hats! In addition to her legal work, she is involved in ferret rescue & rehabbing for cruelty case victims. Currently I am providing some training to animal handlers in the retail trades in NH, and hope to see this elevated to a larger arena. What I do daily is cheerfully volunteer my experience and knowledge on ferret caretaking, and animal cruelty issues to those in the humane sector and to ferret caretakers. Additionally, I provide direct care to inhouse ferret shelters at Ferret Wise Shelter, and coordinate care for shelter ferrets in permanent hospice situations. A story that will touch animal lovers everywhere is the story of Brodie, who was a much loved ferret. Unfortunately, Brodie hated ME! But he did bring a wonderful hospice care-giver and taught a number of us the depths of ferret emotion and the desire to live again. Born out of necessity, this shelter has been home to the unwanted and abused since 1998 [when] the facility was deemed a critical care facility where ACO's [Animal Control officers], humane organizations, domestic violence programs & police could transport ferrets from investigative proceedings for rehabilitative care from neglect and abuse situations. The goal? We remain strictly a "critical care" facility and have begun to expand our educational programs in the hopes that shelters will someday not be needed. The type of care and cost of care [is] far more demanding than the original plan but [it] has been very rewarding to see ferrets near death form starvation and other causes once again healthy. In her role as the Education Director of the IFC, this shelter operator has definite ideas about what she would like to see accomplished. There are *never* enough programs to benefit ferret owners and caretakers. *However,* I would like to see IFC step up and provide more structural and support education for shelterers and rescuers of ferrets. To date there is no organization in the US [that] provides this kind of expertise for our animals, beyond a manual or guide pamphlet. The ferret rescue community has been overlooked by established humane entities for years -- and it will not change for some time to come, I am sad to say. The topics of ferret husbandry, legal issues, sheltering as a business, fundraising -- all of these topics and many more are needed by ferret shelterers... the challenge to presenting these tools for successful sheltering will be to stimulate the shelterers and have them realize their work will be easier with new information to work with! You can read more about Ferret Wise Shelter and their activities at http://ferretwise.org. The email addy is [log in to unmask] (what else?). To learn more about making a difference where you live, come hear Alicia Drakiotes of Ferret Wise Shelter. And don t forget to ask about Brodie! [Posted in FML issue 4219]