From humble beginnings...
By Christine Auda, Best Friends NetworkWhen Megan Reuther, director of Washington Ferret Rescue and Shelter, (WFRS), recalls the humble beginnings of one of Washington State’s largest ferret shelters, she nearly bursts with pride. She has good reason to feel proud.
In 1999 WFRS started out in a garage run by a handful of volunteers and by 2007 had more than tripled in size. The shelter houses about 70 ferrets at any one time and now adopts out about 140 annually.
Ferret rescuer Liane Beckwith founded WFRS in 1999. She, along with Lorayne Ham and Charleen Schuster, started rescuing ferrets in Beckwith’s Bellevue, Wash. garage. The three women and, later, Reuther, operated the fledgling shelter out of the garage until 2003.
At that point they were able to rent a space in Bothell, Wash. for their growing brood. The shelter has developed from four small cages to 12 three-story cages in their latest and most grown-up facility, shared with Eastside Avian and Exotic Animal Medical Center, in nearby Kirkland Wash.
Room For 70 Ferrets Reuther began managing the shelter in late 2003 after Beckwith left for a professorship at the University of Hawaii. Reuther says, “I started as a volunteer scooping boxes and fostering ferrets back in March 2002. Once Liane left, there was a shift in the board of director members, and I think it was late 2003 that I started managing things on-site.” The following year Reuther became director of WFRS, where she now manages up to 40 dedicated volunteers and upwards of 70 ferrets.
The shelter recruits volunteers via volunteermatch.com, plus its own website and word of mouth. Volunteers may do the following: clean, oversee adoptions, take in surrendered ferrets, check email/voicemail, conduct outreaches, write for the newsletter and more. There’s always a need for more volunteers.
Adoption fees, public donations and grants generate the money raised to run WFRS. This enterprising shelter was awarded the Ferret Depot Grant for 2006 and 2007. The grants, each worth $500, were used to help cover ferret vaccination costs.
2006/2007 Report CardIn 2006 WFRS received 192 ferrets, adopted out 141 and had 14 in foster care. Through May 2007:
• 85 surrendered ferrets
• 78 Ferrets housed at the shelter
• 58 adopted
• 59 in permanent foster care
• 8 in temporary foster care
Reuther believes the shelter’s greatest achievement is that it has become self-sufficient by getting out of debt, keeping vet bills up to date and continuing budgeting for the future. When asked what the greatest lesson she’s ever learned from her fuzzy friends, she quickly says, “To play hard!” She adds, “Ferrets have been a part of my life for over 15 years. They’re such wonderfully happy creatures, that I doubt I will ever not have at least a pair of masked bandits again.”
How to HelpWFRS welcomes more volunteers, foster homes, adoptions or even donations. If you’re interested please visit
http://www.washingtonferret.org/Default.htm