I hope everyone who gets this attached letter can pass it on to anyone they know who might want to help the ferrets, if you want and can make print copies and hand them out to whomever you want and can. maybe local pet stores and vets. Time is of an essence I need to decide soon if this dream is possible or if it is time to close the last rescue in Colorado. **Hey Kate, hope you are well can you forward this to Jan and get me an email for her I would love to talk to her and you also when I get a chance to breath, Steph ** ------------------------Letter------------------------- My name is Stephanie Sheme and I am president/founder of Ferrets Etc. Ferret rescue. I founded Ferrets Etc. in 1992 when I found there was only one other ferret rescue in Colorado. Since then unfortunately the other rescue has closed. Some other rescues have popped up over the years but they always close within a year of starting. I believe it is because of the stressful nature of rescue. It is very stressful emotionally and financially. I am proud to say Ferrets Etc. Is the longest running and most respected rescue that has been in Colorado. Ferret rescue is something Colorado cannot lose. I save 100-150 ferrets a year. I also offer many other services such as baby sitting, health information, educational speeches and veterinary referrals. I even take a ferret to schools and hospitals to educate children on responsible pet ownership and to cheer them up in general. The purpose of this letter is to save the ferrets and the rescue they call home. Ferrets Etc. is a no kill rescue and would never put a ferret down just because a home is not available. I give every ferret the same love and care as I do my own special ferret our mascot "Tika." I myself keep one ferret that I call my ferret, that ferret is the mascot to rescue and gets free run of the house and gets to go to all kind of places being the ambassador for ferrets. The ferret who is mascot to the rescue is always an alumni from the rescue. The ferrets in our rescue are not caged they have free run of our basement, we do have two cages left open so the ferrets who like cages can go in and feel safe. Anyway to the point, after 14 years of running ferret rescue out of my pocket I cannot afford to do that anymore. I need to establish our 501 C3 and start to ask for donations on a more regular basis. We are non profit with the state and that has always been enough for the small adoption fees we receive, but now we need to go on to a larger scale. Also being the only rescue left for ferrets my small basement cannot handle the capacity anymore and the rescue needs a new home. Right now all adoptions are handled while sitting on the floor in the front room. What I am trying to do is raise the funds to move our rescue and set it up in the best fashion a ferret rescue can be. I want to run ferret rescue until I drop but to do this I need the help of the public to get us started on a new and glorious road. We are in Parker right now and since we moved to Parker ten years ago the cost of living in Parker has gone sky high so we found a great home in Castle Rock and have done the investigating and cost of living is much better there. Take for example water, which in rescue we use a lot of for baths, drinking, cleaning and washing bedding, in Castle Rock the average water bill is 35% less. So for rescue that is a good incentive to move. Also our home is very close to being foreclosed on because of the high cost of rescue and Parker, we literally will not have a home at all in a few months if we do not get some help, a miracle if you will. I am trying to raise the funds to help us realize our dream to start a bigger rescue that can handle the demand that Colorado has for ferret rescue. And mostly so I do not have to shut the doors to rescue. We found a house that is perfect and it will be ready in July 2007 for us to move in. I hope to raise as much money as possible to use as a down payment, if we do not have enough down we cannot realize this dream, our monthly house payments have to stay low. We also want to raise the funds so if we can move into this house we can set it up right, I will list at the end of this all the needs I can think of for the new rescue. The basement in this new house is 3 times as large as ours. We would be able to segregate the ferrets into adoptable ferrets who are young and playful, olderferrets who need some down time and an isolation area. It would be so wonderful. SO please consider making a donation to help me realize this dream of a bigger and better ferret rescue for all of Colorado. As some may know we do not stop at Colorado either we will save any ferret we can. We have done rescues all over the country, including 14 ferrets that came from hurricane Katrina. Ferrets Etc. is very well respected and if we have to close the doors it would be a great loss to Colorado and in many ways the rest of the country as well. If you can make a donation to our fund to save the rescue and help get us a new bigger and better place to run the rescue it would be wonderful. Also if anyone knows how to do a 501C3 application any help would be welcome. I hope to have that established very very soon. By years end. You can send donations to: Stephanie Sheme C/O Ferrets Etc 15775 Greenstone Circle Parker, Colorado 80134 303-358-8387 303-841-4630 (fax) [log in to unmask] **Checks can be made to Stephanie Sheme with Ferrets Etc. in the memo** What we hope to do with the new rescue......If you can donate toward making this dream come true financially or if you know someone who is able to help with a certain product such as flooring that would be great!! 1. A decent down on the house payment. 2. Flooring, probably stainless steel or linoleum (easiest to clean) 3. 2 new fresh cages 4. Incubator 5. New warm blankets, large and small. And lots of baby blankets 6. Plastic bins and containers for storage 7. Cleaning supplies and equipment 8. A lap top for the basement so we can keep records well of each ferret 9. New toys Contacts to verify Ferrets Etc. Dr. Jerry Labonde Homestead Animal Hospital 303-771-7350 Dr. Joe Bock Adobe Animal Hospital 303-494-4344 Jan Rolhfing 303-973-5860 Kate Quimby 303-978-1624 303-915-9819 Eileen Hansen 303-278-3019 David Hammond 303-698-7983 Chuck Vaile 303-761-7012 Collen Gillen 303-356-2317 Pikes Peak Human Society 1-719-473-1741 x736 [Posted in FML 5393]