Greetings to all you lovers of the floor poopers. The article in todays FML: It saddens me... made me think of several things... First..I rarely have time for face book, but have been asked by a number of groups to donate. I can no longer do that, so I cannot bear to read any farther into whatever the situation is. But I do not begrudge the struggling shelters for trying to make money to feed animals in their care and to pay for their enormous vet bills. Secondly, I have learned over the years here that there are many people not doing well financially. Yet, they have hearts so big and touched by the plight of those even less fortunate that they will give that dollar of five dollars to try and help as best as they can. Sometimes, they give far, far more. Thirdly, I feel that the cat and dog supporters may have a broader base of people with the chance for far bigger donations to be made over all than the ferret shelters. Most people I have encountered consider ferrets to be a pet someone once had that was given away. There are seldom any tender moments of recollection of the ferret in their discourse. But when someone has lost a dog, a verbal tribute frequently ensues that goes on for some time, with choked voice and teary eye. Please try not to laugh at those few who truly mean well. There may be a scammer of ten out there. When is there not? And I could tell tales of the cruelty or mean streak or dishonesty of far more than one person or persons running an animal shelter. It is easy to be hurt and entirely give up on trying to help in any way. Some of these people will just break your heart.. and laugh. But we might owe it to the helpless little stinky ferret that all too often needs more money spent on it than the dog or cat in paying off those vet bills. We owe it to them to try and remain more tender hearted, I believe. It is much much easier to be biter and have a biting tongue. I was volunteering at a shelter once when boxes of plastic bags arrived for the animals there to be gently tossed around. Instead of being even mildly grateful, several of the major board members scoffed and made fun of the people who saved their bags and paid for shipping the bags, along with their letter of thanks to the shelter for what they were doing. I was stung by their mean spirits. Maybe we should all just try our best to remain tender hearted. Making fun of others is cruel and lazy. Lisette [Posted in FML 7380]