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Just look for ferrets_unlimited_ferret_shelter as the seller!
or click here
Our Christmas Mitten Sleep Sack, a Christmas Stocking full of treats, 20 oz. Lock crocks (used but in great shape), and some Bath and Body Works items.
Don't forget our cool stuff at cafe press also!! Great gifts for the ferret lovers, and we are working on some stuff for non ferret folk too!!
Hope all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for all who help the ferrets here at the shelter.
jean
The shelter has a shop at Cafe Press, and all the proceeds from the items goes to us.
So shop!! If you would like a "custom" design, let us know, we can do that for you!! So shop often!! Our items are marked up any where from $0.50 to $2.00, so we tried to keep prices fair and reasonable.
Let's hope cut and past of html banners works here!!
But just in case,
http://www.cafepress.com/ferretsunlimitd
Jean
I had heard rumors that this may happen, well, in some parts of the country it has. I haven't been to our local PetSmart.
The reasoning behind is something like this, there are not that many ferrets in shelters, and we don't have that many adoptions through our charities programs to warrant not selling them.
Hey isn't the whole idea to find homes for the homeless animals? Not numbers? Who is to say there are enought adoptions? Who chooses the nubmer? Who is to say cats and dogs are not next?
Ferret shetlers in general are treated as second class citizens, but that is another post.
Gee, to be a participant in the PetSmart Charities you have to be 501 (c) (3), not a big deal for this shelter, but there are other shelters that do rescue of ferrets that are not, and do not know how to become 501 (c)(3) or cannot afford to pay an accountant to do the work for them. (The main reason we are is I have a bean counter type mentality, and figured that if I read the forms often enough, I'd get it done. Took a couple of years of reading filling forms out, and calling the IRS with TONS of questions)
We used to try to do the adoptathons, (I still do when I can) but we do not adopt on the spot, that is no better than selling in the store, there is our adoption form, and we try to give the good and bad about ferrets. They are not perfect for everyone, and it is better to have a person decide they are not the right pet, rather then adopt one out just to have it come back a month later.
We have gotten good adotions through our Ed Days, but people don't want to go out of their way and go back to PetSmart for paperwork, and to be honest, I don't either. I don't have the time. When you spend two hours or so with a family that adopts, which is time very well spent, the last thing on your mind at 8:30 PM when they leave is what is for dinner that is quick and not a hamburger?
What they fail to see is that 99% of the ferret shelters are not staffed. And the volunteer base is smaller than any of the cat/dog rescue shelters they deal with. Most ferret shelters consider themselves lucky if they have two regular volunteers twice a month!
Shelters are given PetSmart cards, your adoptions add up and they give you so much in credit to be used in their stores. Which is good, but what happens if they don't carry what the shelter really needs? What happens if the shelter needs to build up their medical fund, or needs things that they don't have? Like ink for the printer and paper for all the stuff we hand out, or syringes, or distemper vaccines?
Doing Education days or adopathons can get expensive, and you need people to be there. If there were some way, and we had the knowledgeable man power, we could do education at 4 PetSmarts in the area. Every month.
Education days cost money. You go with brochures, tons of information, (which gets printed in house on the Canon i860, which is a great printer by the way, and we should add one of those to our wish list, cause this one is SO abused by the amount of printing we do), not to mention the paper.
Most ferret shelters do not have enough volunteers to do this every Saturday. And it is not right to expect them to do it every Saturday or Sunday. (I do not do anything on Sunday other than play with the ferrets, and make sure they are ok, it is the only day during the week I get with my husband).
Ok, here is what I would appreciate from all of you, email them, call them, fill their email with letters that show how disappointed you are that they are not keeping with the original PetSmart idea of putting companion animals first.
Be polite, be nice, but let them know you are unhappy.
Stop shopping PetSmarts, both on line and in your city. Ferret owners can make a difference.
Here is the contact information:
PETsMART.com
For questions regarding PETsMART.com:
Email cs@petsmart.com
Call us at (888) 839-9638
Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 11p.m. or Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. EST
Or write to: PETsMART.com 1989 Transit Way PO Box 910 Brockport, NY 14420-0910
PETsMART Stores
For questions regarding PETsMART Stores:
Email storehelp@petsmart.com
Call us at (800) 738-1385 ext. 2518
Or write to: PETsMART, Inc. Attention: Customer Service 19601 North 27th Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85027
Well, other than it is a LONG drive (1 hour 35 minutes), it was a very pleasant experience.
The staff was wonderful, the manager was so nice and helpful, and they take very good care of the ferrets.
The staff even gets upset on how young some are went they come in, and make sure they get softened food, and handled, with cuddles. They would love to change the way they are kept, the fluffy stuff for bedding. They know not to use cedar or pine bedding, and they would rather use tshirts and towels, but who is going to do the ferret laundry if they did?
They have hammocks, and are very well cared for. Kudo's for the Petco in Boardman, Ohio.
It was one of the nicest experiences I have had in a LONG time doing ferret education/potential adoption.
Yes, I used to highly recommend them. Not any more. Everything that was told to me Jan. 2004 was a completely false. Or I got told what I needed to hear to keep me as a customer.
The shelter has had the ferret@en.com email address for years, since the mid 90's. We started with a local company called Exchange Net, then it was sold to Voyager, then to Core Com.
Well, we had switched our service to email only for a while to try DSL, which at the time didn't work well in this area, so we went back to Core Com.
Being the thrifty person I am, when I had called to change back over to full ISP service, the core come rep told me that if we signed up for the six month payment plan, that we would save money. I thought about it, and saving approximately $20 over the six months equaled getting one month free. Ok, that sounds good. And we had enough to pay for it, so that was one shelter bill I didn't have to worry about for 6 months. Cool.
I asked, (BTW it is on tape, I basically don't trust big companies, you can thank AT&T for that).
Me: "OK, what if I find reasonable DSL service, say three months from now, and I want to go back to email only with virus protection. That means there will be three months of internet service I will not use. Does that mean the balance of approximately $57 will go towards the email only? Which means that the email will be paid for approximately 7 months with the balance that would be left."
Core come Rep: "Yes. You are correct."
Me: "Let me ask one more time, if at anytime during the 6 month period I pre paid for I decide to change to email only, there will be no problem, and the amount I have paid you for the 6 months of internet will be pro rated, and the balance not used for internet service will be applied towards email only with virus protection charges?"
Core Com Rep: "Yes, that is right. We don't want to lose your business, you have been a good customer for a very long time. Prorating charges and applying credit balances to an email only account is no problem. Customer satisfaction and retention is our number one goal."
Me: "Great. Is Core Com ever going to get DSL in this area? I really would love to just keep all the internet service in one area, and DSL would make life easier, people like to email pictures of the ferrets that they adopt to show how well they are doing, and it really is a pain when the file is huge!!"
Core Com rep: "Core Com in presently looking into getting DSL, but not right now. Hopefully before you find a reasonable costing DSL. Is there anything else that I can help you with today?"
Me: "Nope, thank you very much for being so understanding and assuring all my questions."
Core Com Rep: "Your welcome, have a great day!"
Well, I found reasonable DSL service, and now they say, "Oh no, we didn't say that!" "You can't change untile the end of the billing cycle." "We can put you into an email only account, but there is no credit or anything. You have full service until January."
I guess I must have halucinated that whole conversation on tape.
jean
Well, our raffle wasn't much of a success,sold 32 tickets, but we drew names anyway.
First Prize - J. Kovachs - who decided that the shelter needed the money more than he needed the gift card
Second Prize - Lynnet Sneff - who had the same feelings as Mr. Kovachs
Third Prize - H. Kommizar - who also declined the prize.
When I had called these folks to tell them they won, they each had asked how many tickets were sold, and who was paying for the gift cards.
When I had told them 32, and that the idea was that we would sell more tickets than the cost of the gift cards, the shelter was to buy them. No, Giant Eagle didn't donate them. It was another one of those wonderful ideas that go bust.
Thank you to all who purchased tickets, and thank you to the three winners who chose to decline having the shelter buy the cards. Ms. Sneff said she would rather have the animals be fed, or have surgery done than to take that money and give her a prize.
Thanks to all!!
jean
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