I Got to Run the Ferret Shelter for a Weekend! Yay!

In Battlestar Galactica, the Secretary of Education becomes the President, even though there are 42 people ahead of her in the Presidential succession, because of dire circumstances.

In much the same way, I was elected to run the Oregon Ferret Shelter for a weekend. And now I shall share that experience with you so you can all gain a new appreciation for just how hard Chris and Dave work to help animals in need.

Just so you know, running the shelter isn't just running the shelter part. It's also running the home of Chris and Dave, the owners of the shelter. And since they are animal lovers, this means taking care of a lot of many kinds of animals.

Dave and Chris love their dogs a lot. There is a lot to love -- they have four English Mastiffs. These dogs are huge. And even though Mastiffland is a peaceful place, entering an empty home with four of them inside is not for the faint of heart. After I got the emergency call, I headed over to their house, only to open the door to three of them in the front room on the floor. Three gigantic heads raised, and heart-stopping thunderous howls sounded from the mouths of all. I would not have been surprised if their eyes started shooting laser beams -- it was that intimidating. It takes real nerve to enter a house with that facing you.

Fortunately, they knew me. And I had french fries.

After I was greeted, I went into the kitchen to feed the dogs (the mastiffs plus two more dogs! EEK!). There was only a little food left in the tub on the counter. I hoped that Chris had a huge storage bin of it somewhere because it was not good to let large dogs go hungry. Especially dogs that were bred to kill bears. Fortunately, Chris had a huge bin of it in back. This was going to be the theme of the weekend -- Chris has everything anyone could ever need in quantity. She is prepared for every emergency. If the zombie plague ever happens, and civilization is thrown into a shambles, I will head on over to Chris' compound because she will have the best chance of survival.

I spent the rest of the night checking over the shelter kids, making sure they had food and water, and appeasing the cats. I tried to learn where stuff was. I also sent out the call for help to my fellow volunteers Lin and Tracy. Thankfully, Lin was able to do the meds. And Tracy was able to help me with the toughest part of the weekend --

THE RELINQUISHMENT
More on that next time...