Let's talk about what works for rescues both large and small, what can go wrong, and what fits into confusing categories. 1. This one is obvious: Just as courtesy to the rescuers is needed, courtesy to the donors and especially to the volunteers is needed. Problems: division of labor, rest, record keeping, etc. Question: would it help for a distant volunteer to have a daily phone call with one of the at-site volunteers and on a website put the thank you list to all who donating labor (each added as she or he arrives) and the thank you list to donors w a brief description of what was received (check, bedding, cages, ADV tests...) Problems: can donations to volunteers be made to ease people who are providing hard labor? For example, can people arrange for delivered meals, or special clothing, or help cover hotel rooms for those who want or need that? Suggestions? 2. This one is less obvious: temporary needs for transportation or shelter. With a large rescue there may be a temporary need for a large vehicle but the vehicle will need to be of a type that does not have any risk of exhaust moving into the compartment where the cages will be. How do those costs be kept best controlled? If a second hand vehicle is a cheaper possibility even after the cost of having a mechanic verify that it will hold up then should the donations cover part of the cost -- due to the uses -- and the person who will retain the vehicle pay the rest or should the vehicle be resold after the fact with the money plowed back into covering costs? There are parallels in having a place to put the ferrets. So often a rescuer eats a large portion of the cost of anything involved herself or himself. Only rarely do shelters or rescues get enough donations to cover the costs. When they don't then is there any problem with the rescuer keeping the large items which were bought rather than rented to off-set large amounts of personal debt put into the rescue? Problems? Suggestions? 3. Quarantine: for multiple health reasons such as ADV, Canine Distemper, Giardia, Coccidia, fleas, etc. it makes sense to have an initial quarantine (which makes the need for the temporary transporation and temporary added housing if a rescue is large enough even more needed and for longer). There are health reasons to simply NOT send out animals who have not had vaccinations, fecal testing (a lot of fecal testing...), parasite checks, ADV tests, other medical care, etc. (This may also mean higher insurance costs due to multiple drivers.) Problems? Suggestions? 4. During quarantine time offers to take the ferrets will hopefully be coming in. How can they all be checked? For obvious reasons it is essential that hoarders, snake feeders (something I know accidently happened to one shelter which did not check out a recipient well), those who want to keep the ferrets to breed them, etc. be weeded out. During the quarantine weeks can clubs and known ferret community people be gotten involved in the states where there are no state inspections of shelters. In states like NJ those offering can be checked out with the dept. which inspect them by state volunteers, but in other states actual visits may be needed by more than one volunteer. Problems? Suggestions? 5. Some large items will be loaned (perhaps some like large vehicles with some reimbursement). How will those be handled and tracked? Problems? (I could imagine things getting overwhelming at times.) Suggestions? 6. What about labor when there will be a space of time before enough volunteers arrive? 7. What about having enough sanitary facilities for the large influx of both volunteers and animals? 8. What about improvements that the rescue absolutely requires? (Is this another case in which the rescuers typically bring in less than needed so it they displace some of the cost to the rescuer?) 9. Now, here is something that would be very, very rare: what if the rescue brings in more money than it costs? How should extra funds be dispersed? 10. Probably more common: what about the extra items afterward? Obviously, selling them to reduce costs makes sense, but if if the costs are met then what should be done? I am sure that each of you can think of multiple points about each of the questions above and I know that a lot of you will think of many more which need refining and probably EVERYTHING about making a large rescue work needs better understanding in the general ferret community. So, how about sharing some general info? THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE WORKED RESCUES: TEACH US, PLEASE! Those of you others who have ideas or questions, share them so they can be knocked around and refined for optimal performance. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 5815]