Regarding the topic about starting some sort of fund to pay for ferret care when their people cannot afford it... I think there is another way besides throwing money into a pot. Here in MN there is an organization called the Animal Care Foundation. They are a group which provides free vet care to one pet of any disabled person for as long as they need help. They (actually I think this operation is run by one person) say they have helped 3000 disabled people in Hennepin County to obtain vet care for their companion animal by setting up a network of veterinarians that donate a set amount of their services per year. This organization understands the bond between people and the beasts that they care for and they understand that separating a loving animal and a loving human can have dire consequences (emotionally and then physically - for both) and strive to keep them together. Without this service many disabled people would have to give up their pets as they would not be able to afford the proper care. They say that sometimes the help is longterm for the animals life, and other times they just help with one procedure that the person cannot afford. Anyways, I don't know all of the details, but as I understand it this group not only has vets donating their services but in order for the vet to donate a service the vet also needs to make a $150/year membership donation in order to be part of the network. So, not only has this group convinced people to donate their time and expertise, they have also convinced them it is such a worthy cause that they have to pay money in order to have the privilege to serve them. WOW! What an accomplishment! (They say the $150/yr fee paid by vets is to pay for administrative fees like phone bills, etc). This group screens people requesting help to ensure that the need is there and this sounds like a rigorous task. So, one idea would be to start developing some relationships with vets around the world and see if we can't find some willing to donate services. We could get a mission statement together and get it electronically available. FML members or whoever can access it, print it out and next time they go to their vet hand them a copy of the mission statement and say a few words encouraging them to become a member of the network. I have a great relationship with my vet and cannot imagine them turning me down. I think we have lots of people here with great relationships with their vets. Perhaps no one in the vets area would need help that year and the vet would be out nothing. Perhaps a person would need help paying for a $300 adrenal surgery and they visit the network vet for the donated surgery. They are so happy they will probably go back to this vet time and time again for routine vaccs and such and recommend him to all of their friends as being a caring vet. Another idea perhaps is a bartering idea - newsletters, magazines, electronic mailing lists, whoever, whatever could donate to the organization a certain amount of "free" advertising to vets and in return the vet would provide "free" services to the organization. Or howabout some value added service: like a ferret medical care newsletter that the vets in the network received free if they became members. Okay, then the other idea I had is a little different. There are people all over the place that can't afford to pay their bills and are unable to negotiate with their creditors - what do many of them do? They go to a credit counselor who calls up their creditors and negotiates payment plans for them. The creditors usually agree because A) they have a relationship with the counselor B) the credit counselor has done this before and knows the ropes aka knows who to talk to and how to phrase their queries, etc. Because of the relationship or the skill, the counselor is usually able to not only strike up a payment plan but also get a discounted interest rate and an extended grace period, etc, etc... Perhaps we can set up a counseling service like this - John Smith goes to vet with sick freddy ferret, vet says $500, John Smith says couldn't you make me a payment plan couldn't you give me a discount, vet says no, John tells Ferret Counselor vet said $500 no ifs ands or buts, Credit Counselor calls up vet and negotiates successfully for either payment plan or discount because A) they have a relationship with the vet or B) they are a skilled negotiator. Of course, I am just sort of brainstorming here and haven't even touched on the many details that would go into all of the ideas. So anyways my opinion is that hard work never killed anybody, helping need not make you a chump, people and their beloved beasts should not be separated due to financial hardship, people don't need money so much as people need people. Charlene P.S. To donate to Animal Care Foundation, P.O. Box 24525, Edina Branch PO, 3948 W 49 1/2 St, Edina, MN 55424. [Posted in FML issue 1564]