Okay, shelter operations wanna knows...... Shelters That Adopt & Rescue Ferrets (STAR*) has been a functioning network since 1991. I started it because people wanted to get involved with ferret rescue and there were no publications or organized system for such. Before STAR*, I was the shelter "lead" (no office or title here) for the International Ferret Association (IFA). Mary Van Dahm, who was the Minister of Shelters for the Ferret Unity and Registration Organization (FURO), is STAR*'s co-director. We have both been doing ferret rescue since sometime in the 1980's. STAR* is not a club. We put out a quarterly newsletter, which requires a subscription fee, and publish a book called _FERRET CARE AND RESCUE_ (most recent edition is 1996) and have a set of blank forms for people interested in starting some sort of ferret related services. No sense in reinventing the wheel here. We provide free information to anyone interested in educating pet shops, vets, or themselves about ferrets. We attend the HSUS Animal Care Expo and pass out everyone's literature on ferrets who is willing to send us a hundred copies. This must be educational material or an explanation on how your shelter system works. The huge database titled STAR*'s Resource Listing for Ferrets is maintained by myself and right now one volunteer (while I'm in the process of running TWO surveys at one time). I spend a minimum of an hour daily returning e-mail requests and another hour filling out information requests received by mail. For a SASE anyone can receive a listing of all the resources for ferrets that I have been informed of for your state or area (large states like Texas and CA are broken into zip code areas). To maintain the database, people have to let me know when information is no longer accurate and send me their vet's business card if they want them listed. I do a mass mailing in December of every year and any letters returned to me undelivered are deleted off the database. Everyone else is listed as a ferret contact until I receive an update via the survey sent in the mail or responded to over the Internet. If there are changes during the year, people need to let me know as they happen. Now, keep in mind that the database is HUGE and I send it to Bill Gruber and Pam Greene every three months in its entirety. So, changes on my Mac are instantaneous, but Web changes may take time. For those people interested in shelter life - STAR* sends out an annual survey to find out what shelters are charging for adoption, what their vets charge them for services, how many ferrets they have handled in a year and since conception, what problems they have had, etc. If anyone wants to know these facts about ferret rescues, you are more than welcomed to send a SASE to STAR* Ferrets, PO Box 1714, Springfield, VA 22151-0714 and ask for the 1996 shelter survey results. You can also request a listing of your state resources too. STAR* Ferrets is NOT-FOR-Profit. If you send me a donation, I usually send you a newsletter subscription for the equivalent time frame. STAR* Ferrets is independent of all the other ferret groups. Many of our subscribers are just people interested in ferret information, about half are ferret owners and the rest shelter operator and club officers. Check out STAR*'s web connections through Ferret World. Pamela Troutman Grant [Posted in FML issue 1815]