Endings & A New Beginning

There is a song where part of it goes, to everything there is a season. And a time for every purpose under heaven. I never totally understood this until a few months ago.

I have an announcement, to some it will be bad news, to some, well, you know. But to every end there is a beginning.

Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter has closed, I am retiring. I want to be a ferret owner, and actually enjoy my pets, and enjoy my family. Over the years, the shelter has put a major strain, not only on time, but emotions, and family. In March I had realised that my personal ferrets are all 5 years and older, and I really didn't give them the time they deserve. (Now they look at me and say, YOU again?? We want to sleep!! LOL!)

When what you love to do becomes something that makes you into a person you do not like, it is time to retire. I didn't like the person I had become over the last few years. Angry, I started to become very cold towards people. After all, it is people who caused this poor ferret to become homeless, or abused it, if they were surrendering a ferret, then after all they didn't try, it didn't matter what they said, I would just think, shut up, go away, you are lying anyway, quit trying to ease your guilty mind. I started to actually see how I was alienating my family too. That hit hard at Christmas 2007. My son asked us to come visit for Christmas. Please come for Christmas. My kids don't ask for much. But I couldn't. No one to care for the shelter. My family took the back seat again.

In late 2007, I finally found a group of folks to be on the board of FUFS. A great group. They roll up their sleeves and do what they say they will. In January, my son told me of an opportunity opening up at Quantico, a good job, but that would mean moving to Virginia. My husband said go for it, my board said, go for it (I think they sensed the stress in me). So I did.

I moved to Virginia in March, and FUFS became a foster network. But staying at the reigns of even a foster network from another state can prove rather difficult to manage. Driving to Ohio in the winter snow isn't on my hit parade of favorite things to do :-) . And besides, I will be the first one to admit, after being the one who made all of the choices and decisions for over a decade plus, I had ownership issues, too much of my personal life had been wrapped up in Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter. I thought I could separate but I couldn't. So it was agreed that Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter would close, and I would retire (which I had planned on retiring), and Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services will step into place.

I know I have made lots of mistakes in the past. Some really bad ones, some very bad choices, some were choices that were huge mistakes, but this is not one of them. The board members of Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services are an incredibly wonderful, caring, intelligent group of people, who will get things done. They are driven, and organized. If they had been on the original board, I know things would be different. But they weren't and I went charging on with both my good and bad ideas, but that is the past and Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services are the future. A good future.

Let me tell you, the foster network they have in place is awesome, and they all work together, they communicate, and they make it work. The group running Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services, are incredible. Smart, knowledgeable, and they care. The ferrets in Northern Ohio couldn't have a better group.

They had asked if they could retain part of the name, and I agreed, since many of the animal control folks know the name Ferrets Unlimited. I helps with the transition of one to the other. (Besides, the domain has been paid for for the next 10 years I think, and the PO Box has been paid up for a year)

I would greatly appreciate it if the ferret community and all shelter supporters would be gracious and support the new Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services. There couldn't be a better group of folks to pass the baton to. They are very hard working, and love both their personal ferrets and the foster ferrets.

If you can donate, it would be most welcome. We all know that things are getting very tight, and it is the same for shelters, and the folks at Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services. (Foster home ferrets like Christmas too!)

You can send a donations to: Ferrets Unlimited, P. O. Box 44012, Cleveland, OH 44144 or you can send them to the vet to help with medical care: Avon Lake Animal Clinic, 124 Miller Rd, Avon Lake, OH 44012. (If you send a donation to the vet, please be sure to put on the donation it is for Ferrets Unlimited).

I thank you all for your past support of Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter, and hope you to continue to support Ferrets Unlimited Rescue Services.