How Can You Help? Find Out Here!

The shelters are the heros!

They're the ones out there saving and nursing and finding good homes for our little friends. That's rewarding, yes, but it's also heartbreaking, time-consuming, and very, very expensive. All-too-often, when shelters do things to try to raise much-needed money, not enough people find out about it. I hope that this site can help do something to correct that by providing a centralized place for as many fundraisers and benefits as possible.

If you want to help a shelter, come here to find out what's going on.

If your shelter or rescue organization has something going on, please send me a banner or link so that I can help get the word out. It's that simple! click here! or write to: rezgrrl@netzero.com  But no spam, please.

And by the way, I'm just starting this up, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know. click here!

About Ferret Shelters: How you can help without these links

Of course, one of the best ways you can help shelters is by adopting. If you're looking for a ferret, please consider one of the many shelters out there. They're not all hard cases with illnesses and behavior problems (though I must say those hard cases are addictive). There are also bright, sweet youngsters and everything in between.

Or foster a ferret. Many ferrets don't do well in shelters--especially large, overworked shelters. They need the attention and sense of belonging that only comes from being part of a household until they find a forever home. If you love ferrets but aren't sure that you can  make a long-term commitment, this might be the perfect solution. Arrangements vary by shelter, but in many cases they pay for medical bills and you pay for food and housing. Good deal, huh?

You can help by volunteering your time. Shelter owners are pretty uniformly overworked and could really use a hand scooping poop, changing or washing bedding, administering meds, putting out fresh food and water, even just playing and snuggling with the fuzzies.

You can give money or supplies. Call and ask what they need, or check their web sites for a "Wish List" or "How You Can Help" page.  If you can benefit from a tax deduction and your chosen shelter doesn't have nonprofit status, you can always give money through Support Our Shelters.  You can even specify the shelter or vet account that your money will go to. This is a wonderful umbrella organization, that helps ferret shelters in need. (Did you know that it costs money to qualify for nonprofit status? Money that could be spent on vet bills? Many very legitimate shelters simply don't take in enough money in donations to make it worth the cost.) And supplies? Can you imagine how much laundry detergent and paper towels they go through? And old blankets make wonderful bedding, too.

You can also help through responsible pet ownership. Consider what is likely to come up in your life. Of course there are always unforeseen emergencies, but just try to think ahead. If you would be willing to take an apartment (or partner) that doesn't allow your ferrets, please don't get the ferret in the first place. If the birth of a child would be reason for you to give up your ferret, congratulations on the baby, but don't get the ferret in the first place. And remember that animals are not toys: Small children can be terrifying to any small animal, and frightened ferrets can bite. And then there's money. Ferrets are very expensive to own: Most ferrets will need at least one operation in their lifetimes, and if that's all your ferret ever needs, you can consider yourself lucky. Many also require rather elaborate medical and feeding schedules. At this point many ferrets end up in shelters. Unfortunately, ferrets tend to bond very strongly to those around them; they really do die of broken hearts. So if hundreds, or even thousands of dollars sounds like way too much to afford and you still want a ferret, please consider fostering. (And never give animals as unsolicited presents!)