Thursday, December 11, 2014
Cutting Back
I need to cut back on the chins and other rescues. I need to stop getting suckered into every sob story. I always tell people, "you can't save them all," and then I still try to. Well, sadly, the reality is, they can't, and I can't either. I cleaned all the runs today, with a face mask on. Took it off, and not 5 minutes later, had to come upstairs cause I was wheezing. It's besides the fact that I have a cold and I'm congested. I was trying to sweep, and I had to move 5 cages around because there's random critters in them that don't fit anywhere else. I adopted out two chins today and still have no room to move any chins anywhere, cause both chins were in runs. So maybe I can move some of the chins in the random floating cages into the runs. Cause at least those aren't smack dab in the middle of the room.
Plus, I can't even keep up with the website anymore. The closest it ever gets to up-to-date is that the list of chins will be accurate. But most of the available ones won't have descriptions, because by the time I get home from work, I'm too tired to take pictures all the time, and answer all the emails.
I have fleece liners, but can't ever get any volunteers to go and wash them. Or volunteers to do anything for that matter. The things that help so many other rescues run is the volunteers. Every time the rescues come into the pet store to set up adoption events, its volunteers coming in. A lady came in today to set up an adoption event for one. She's just the go-to-volunteer between some marketing person for the rescue and the store. The rescues that come in usually have several foster homes show up with the critters. Versus it's just me. And on lucky days, I can get one of my co-workers to feed the store-rescue-chin on my day off. That's about the extent of my volunteers. People donate money occasionally, and that's wonderful. Don't get me wrong. The food for the chins costs money, and it has to come from somewhere. But no amount of money can give me the energy needed to care for all these animals by myself. I'd much rather have bodies. Shit, I've TRIED to pay people to come help clean cages. Take stuff to the laundromat. Too busy. No one wants to do that stuff. Really? Cause for all those people crying poor, you sure think a few would want a few bucks, tax free, but apparently not.
So, once / if I ever get down from the insane amount of animals I have, I'm going to do my best to get rid of at least one FN. Baby steps. I don't know which one, cause I like em all, but I think one's gotta go. Even a handful less chins would be helpful, because it's less fur flying around, two less cages to clean (top and bottom). And I WILL learn to say no. As much as I want to help, I can't be the safety net for everyone. I took in 7 chins within the last month or two from people moving out of country. Out of COUNTRY. And mind you, all those chins were brought to me mere DAYS before these people literally boarded a plane out of the US. No planning whatsoever, it was a hail mary effort on these people that I would take their chins. Now, I'd hate to see what would happen if I said, no, I can't. But the reality needs to be -- no, I can't. If I'm full, I need to be full. Period. Anymore, I can't even breathe down there. Doing laundry on the other side of the basement has become a chore, cause you know, breathing's kind of important. And it's taking in the extras and having them come out my ears that really is what gets me stressed and pulling my hair out. And if the rescue's gonna stay open, that has gotta stop. I have gotta set limits.
To round out the day.... before my last appointment got here, I decided to clean cages. Dumped out all the run pans and refilled... vacuumed the FNs. Right before they came, I thought, hey, I'm going to see how the baby's doing. Weigh her. Bout that. So, when putting the clean shavings in the pan, I had pushed the pan back... and she was behind the pan.... and the pan was about flush with the front of the cage when I was done. So I realized that, yanked the pan forward, set her down on the shavings. Her back half looked a little squished...legs behind her, dragging.... but she still was moving around... so I left her alone. Panickedly texted some people, cause I apparently can't keep bad news to myself....
...and then my people arrived. First things first, we went to put the cage in their car... didn't fit. Ended up deciding, we'll take it apart, but naturally I couldn't find a pair of clipping pliers, so we had to manually yank all the O-rings off. What a pain. Anyway, got it apart, and they wanted a water bottle. So, I'm currently out of put-together stoppers and glass tubes. Which I usually put together in spare time (ha!), because they're easy to break when you're in a hurry. Yeah, bout that. So, as they're watching me put it together, the tube shatters, cutting the hell out of two fingers. I go run upstairs to try to find a bandage, wrap those up, get back downstairs. Thankfully, the guy had the tube in the stopper by the time I made it back down.
Unfortunately, if you've ever shattered one of those water bottle tubes, you know they shatter in itty bitty tiny little miniscule glass fragments, so once the people left, I had to unwrap the fingers and dig out any remaining glass shards, to end my night on a nice painful note, before wrapping em back up. Because, you know, the day couldn't get better.
Well, on an ACTUAL positive note... since it was about midnight about that point, and WAAAAAAY past the time when the lights naturally shut off via timer in the basement, I had to head back down if I wanted to turn off the lights, or they'd stay on all night. So I headed down, and checked on the baby chin. And... she's using her legs!! Who-hoo!! So all, please, fingers crossed for the little girl, that she continues to do well.
So to wrap up the multiple posts, today, Myshkin, Puff, and Mama & Baby went to their new homes. And I cleaned cages, cut my fingers, and squished a chin. And completely unrelated, but since hh gregg didn't call to tell me what time they're delivering (but I know they're coming), I assume I have to be up early. I'm going to bed now.
No consideration
Just want to say one thing -- people have no consideration. I had people scheduled today at 8:30 pm. I get home and have an email from them:
We are on our way but running late. We will be there by 10pm.
Now, that's fine, but... what if I had a 9 pm? What if I was planning on leaving right after they left my house?
See, I would be fine if they had even called and said, "hey, we're running late, is it ok if we still head over today, we'll make it there by 10. Is that ok? Does that work for you?" But noooooo, they just assume that I will be perfectly fine with this. Don't ASK me or anything.
Mind you, these are the same people who wanted to come before I went to work that one day... if you recall, I got up at 5 am, and they never showed.
Why is it, people would never think to pull this shit with their doctor or with a music lesson, but with the rescue? Ah they don't care, nothing better to do than sit home and wait for them.......grrrrr. I need a herd of attack chinchillas for times like these.
We are on our way but running late. We will be there by 10pm.
Now, that's fine, but... what if I had a 9 pm? What if I was planning on leaving right after they left my house?
See, I would be fine if they had even called and said, "hey, we're running late, is it ok if we still head over today, we'll make it there by 10. Is that ok? Does that work for you?" But noooooo, they just assume that I will be perfectly fine with this. Don't ASK me or anything.
Mind you, these are the same people who wanted to come before I went to work that one day... if you recall, I got up at 5 am, and they never showed.
Why is it, people would never think to pull this shit with their doctor or with a music lesson, but with the rescue? Ah they don't care, nothing better to do than sit home and wait for them.......grrrrr. I need a herd of attack chinchillas for times like these.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Adoptions and Pretty Much the Usual
So, Puff is now on hold and is going to be picked up tomorrow. Myshkin is on hold and will be picked up tomorrow. Mama & Baby will be going home tomorrow night. Sad thing is, Puff and Myshkin were in the runs, so this really only frees up one cage for me to move chins around. And I have four chins still in my non-regular rescue cages, so.... this still unfortunately doesn't mean any more chins will be taken in.
Though it's a tempting thought to throw all the chins in runs for the meantime and move them out as rescue cages permit, because it's hard to even move around in the rescue with this many large cages everywhere at the moment. They'd survive just fine, believe me.
Not too many of the super annoying people lately. The main ones I've had lately just want to set their own appointment times and everything, completely ignoring my schedule. Want to pick up supplies at work? I tell you I work 1-9 pm. Oh, they can pick it up anytime before 10 am. Wait, didn't I say I started at 1? Right, just ignore that, I'll come 3 hours early to make it easier for you. Similarly same with people coming by the actual rescue. They can come, for example, Monday at 1, or Tuesday at 5, or Wednesday at 9 am. Good to know, don't get me wrong. But.... if none of those work for me, because of my work schedule, are they not going to come? I think what irritates me about this is that I tell people, I need to wait for my schedule to come out, because it changes every week, and they say, ok, well these are the times I can come. If I work during all those times, I can't do anything about it, and I'm considerably too far to come home on my lunch break. And then they get upset when those times don't work. I had three people this week who wanted to come during the day, because they want to come when their kids are at school. I get it, don't get me wrong. And if I'm available during the day, that's perfectly fine. This week is busy though, so I pushed several to next week, but about the best I can tell them, as far as the schedule goes, is that if they want a Monday appointment, is that I will not be home until around 5 pm. Well, that's not good cause the kids will be home by then from school. Tough shit. That's just my availability on Mondays. I don't plan my actual work schedule, you know the job that actually pays the bills, around the people who are stopping by for $10 in chin food. Sorry.
Also, specifics are you friend. Really. Not so much in setting appointments, cause I really can't help my work schedule, for the most part, but with other things, please be specific. I have an email that asks how much a custom hidey house will cost. That's pretty much the entire email. Well.... cost depends on several things. How big do they want it? I need some sort of inches, or at least "around the size of.....". Also, how many entrances/windows do they want? What else would be good to know in terms of building the house? A 12 x 12 hidey house that's square will cost less than one where someone wants like a sloped roof or a special cutout or something else that will take me 20 cuts and 20' of wood to get right. So I nicely emailed back and just told her, I needed more specifics in terms of what they thought it was going to look like, how big, how many entrances/windows... and then I could get her a price.
Another email asked if I had a cage for sale and how much. Sure, plenty. Um... for what animal? That's what I emailed back, is that I have some cages for various animals available, just need to know what they're looking for. Again, specifics = your friend. Big difference in price if you're looking for a hamster cage or a large chinchilla cage. Just saying.... I can help ya better if I know what you want, instead of these super vague emails where I'm not sure.... and no longer will I email back and say, "well, since I don't know what cage you want, here's the 80 cages I have for sale. Cage 1 is a hamster cage, it is [dimensions], it's good for one hamster, it has a pull out tray, wire ramps, nice cage. It's $10. Cage two is a rabbit cage, it's [dimensions], it could fit two rabbits, I could add in a shelf if you'd like. It's a good cage, no rust except for this one little spot. It's $40. Cage 3 is..." I don't have time for that sort of thing, especially when 90% of the people don't even bother to email me back. My guess would be (in that instance) because people think that when rescues sell cages, they're gonna be $5 for a large chinchilla cage. Uh, no. It's still cheaper than the pet store, but when I put work into cleaning it and getting shelves in it and stuff, I'm not selling it for dirt cheap. They want that $5 chinchilla cage, they can get it off craigslist and then have to take it to the self-car wash to powerwash the layers of feces off. Nope, my cages are clean and nice, that's why they cost money.
Ok, gotta go get ready for supply pickups and stuff.....
Though it's a tempting thought to throw all the chins in runs for the meantime and move them out as rescue cages permit, because it's hard to even move around in the rescue with this many large cages everywhere at the moment. They'd survive just fine, believe me.
Not too many of the super annoying people lately. The main ones I've had lately just want to set their own appointment times and everything, completely ignoring my schedule. Want to pick up supplies at work? I tell you I work 1-9 pm. Oh, they can pick it up anytime before 10 am. Wait, didn't I say I started at 1? Right, just ignore that, I'll come 3 hours early to make it easier for you. Similarly same with people coming by the actual rescue. They can come, for example, Monday at 1, or Tuesday at 5, or Wednesday at 9 am. Good to know, don't get me wrong. But.... if none of those work for me, because of my work schedule, are they not going to come? I think what irritates me about this is that I tell people, I need to wait for my schedule to come out, because it changes every week, and they say, ok, well these are the times I can come. If I work during all those times, I can't do anything about it, and I'm considerably too far to come home on my lunch break. And then they get upset when those times don't work. I had three people this week who wanted to come during the day, because they want to come when their kids are at school. I get it, don't get me wrong. And if I'm available during the day, that's perfectly fine. This week is busy though, so I pushed several to next week, but about the best I can tell them, as far as the schedule goes, is that if they want a Monday appointment, is that I will not be home until around 5 pm. Well, that's not good cause the kids will be home by then from school. Tough shit. That's just my availability on Mondays. I don't plan my actual work schedule, you know the job that actually pays the bills, around the people who are stopping by for $10 in chin food. Sorry.
Also, specifics are you friend. Really. Not so much in setting appointments, cause I really can't help my work schedule, for the most part, but with other things, please be specific. I have an email that asks how much a custom hidey house will cost. That's pretty much the entire email. Well.... cost depends on several things. How big do they want it? I need some sort of inches, or at least "around the size of.....". Also, how many entrances/windows do they want? What else would be good to know in terms of building the house? A 12 x 12 hidey house that's square will cost less than one where someone wants like a sloped roof or a special cutout or something else that will take me 20 cuts and 20' of wood to get right. So I nicely emailed back and just told her, I needed more specifics in terms of what they thought it was going to look like, how big, how many entrances/windows... and then I could get her a price.
Another email asked if I had a cage for sale and how much. Sure, plenty. Um... for what animal? That's what I emailed back, is that I have some cages for various animals available, just need to know what they're looking for. Again, specifics = your friend. Big difference in price if you're looking for a hamster cage or a large chinchilla cage. Just saying.... I can help ya better if I know what you want, instead of these super vague emails where I'm not sure.... and no longer will I email back and say, "well, since I don't know what cage you want, here's the 80 cages I have for sale. Cage 1 is a hamster cage, it is [dimensions], it's good for one hamster, it has a pull out tray, wire ramps, nice cage. It's $10. Cage two is a rabbit cage, it's [dimensions], it could fit two rabbits, I could add in a shelf if you'd like. It's a good cage, no rust except for this one little spot. It's $40. Cage 3 is..." I don't have time for that sort of thing, especially when 90% of the people don't even bother to email me back. My guess would be (in that instance) because people think that when rescues sell cages, they're gonna be $5 for a large chinchilla cage. Uh, no. It's still cheaper than the pet store, but when I put work into cleaning it and getting shelves in it and stuff, I'm not selling it for dirt cheap. They want that $5 chinchilla cage, they can get it off craigslist and then have to take it to the self-car wash to powerwash the layers of feces off. Nope, my cages are clean and nice, that's why they cost money.
Ok, gotta go get ready for supply pickups and stuff.....
Friday, December 5, 2014
Alrighty.
So, got an email from someone who I knew was going to be picking up chins this week. In short, it basically said, they wanted to come tomorrow around noon. Well, regardless of what shift at work that I work, I'm never home around noon. I usually either work 7-4 (at work around noon), or 1-10 (driving to work around noon). And tomorrow's the Christmas party, so I told her, not heading home after work either.
So she asks if they can stop by before I leave for work. Mind you, I've just told her, I leave the house at 6. Now, I had my little hissy fit over here and said there is no way I'm getting up at the crack of dawn to rehome chins... until I realized, this is for Mama and Baby. The chins who've been here almost a year, and this would be the first people who are really interested in them, and so I sent back an email saying I will have everything ready, but if they are not here by the time I have to leave... I have to leave.
They better show up if I'm going to sacrifice even more sleep for this sort of thing. Because if I get up at 5 am and wait for an hour and these people do not show up, all of a sudden the rescue's gonna have a new, 10 am - 8 pm appointment hours ONLY thing. Cause this wouldn't be the only time people want to come at the crack of dawn, or 2 am, that sort of thing. And usually it works out and it's only occasionally here and there, but I feel like these people have no respect. Do you go to a pet store and say, "hey, I know you open at 9. But I can make it there only at 5 am. Can you open four hours early for me? Pleeeeeeease????" Pet store would be like, "Uh, no. Not a chance. Come at 9. If we're in a good mood, maybe we'll let you in at 8:55." And they'd be making WAY more money off the critters and supplies than I would, so....
Just got on the internet long enough to check if this person I'm talking about had paid my invoice.... cause they already paid for the chins and then wanted to get a cage, so I sent them an invoice for the cage. Saw a message on facebook -- someone already has chins and took in a mom and her kits and now those chins aren't all getting along, and so they need me to take in the mom. Mind you, this is the same person who thought that a cage that would fit three chins, for $80, was too much, a month or so ago. But they thought it'd be a good idea to take in multiple additional chins, and now the problem -- SURPRISE -- is they don't have another cage to separate all these chins into. Now, I do give em kudos because they don't want to keep the mom with a male cause they don't want babies... but shouldn't they have thought of that ahead of time? Without knowing more details, best guess is, mom and babies are female, their current chin is male (well, I know their current chin is male, cause this person always acts interested in my male chins and wants to see pics and it never goes anywhere from there). But then the mom and babies aren't getting along, and why doesn't it surprise me... that they're getting rid of mom. And now that I go to my newsfeed, this person has posted that the female bites and sprays. Wonderful. I suppose, good thing I have a waiting list and I'm nowhere near getting people off it just quite yet. I asked if he wanted to be added to it, but, as always, I go in order of who got on the list first (exception being someone who's returning one of my chins, they go to the top of the list), and I probably have 5 people on the list.
Ok so one more thing. To get the chins ready to go.... packed up food, goodie bags, business card. Wrote out two pickup forms, adoption contract, and invoice. Got a box ready with holes, got the tape. The cage they wanted was buried (even moreso since furniture has made its way down there recently), so I moved all the furniture to unearth the cage, and moved that considerably closer to the basement steps -- which I know I can't get it up myself. Maybe this doesn't sound like a lot of stuff. It really doesn't to me, now that I've typed it. But figure, if they don't show up.... that's a lot of shit done for nothing. That cage has sat around over a year here at the rescue (for sale the entire time... not a popular choice I guess), so it'll just have to be moved back. I'm at a lack of space as it is, so the food and goodie bags will need to be put back in their respective places to wait for the next adoption. The goodie bags have their own container, and the food -- I like to scoop fresh for every adoption so the adopters get the most current food I have for their critters. Not to mention, the forms and all that.... well, fingers crossed they show up.
Ok one more last thing. Remember that person who had the female chin and wanted the male and then we talked about it and then they said they wanted Puff? That was like a few weeks ago, but all on facebook? Yeah, never heard back from them. Also, have had 3 people email about Nyler, all in the last week. All asked for care packet and adoption form. None have emailed that back.
Oh and the same person who was interested in three chins and a rabbit, back when.... but then decided, after dragging it out, that they couldn't make the drive. Oops, my bad, they never had a car and had to have a friend drive them, and didn't think to ask that friend, would the friend drive them, before contacting me. So of course, when they asked, friend said no, too far. Yeah. They just emailed me about another rabbit and asked how far I am from their hometown. Now, I could see if it was just a general ad, cause not all my ads specifically say the rescue name -- but the ad they responded to was on RescueMe, which SPECIFICALLY says on the listings (for example), "chinchilla locates at NWI Chinchilla Rescue, Hammond, IN." Now, I know they saw the rescue name before, when they were emailing about the other animals, cause I sent them two care packets and two adoption forms, all with the rescue name on it, and yet they still emailed about the other rabbit. Does no one READ anymore?
So she asks if they can stop by before I leave for work. Mind you, I've just told her, I leave the house at 6. Now, I had my little hissy fit over here and said there is no way I'm getting up at the crack of dawn to rehome chins... until I realized, this is for Mama and Baby. The chins who've been here almost a year, and this would be the first people who are really interested in them, and so I sent back an email saying I will have everything ready, but if they are not here by the time I have to leave... I have to leave.
They better show up if I'm going to sacrifice even more sleep for this sort of thing. Because if I get up at 5 am and wait for an hour and these people do not show up, all of a sudden the rescue's gonna have a new, 10 am - 8 pm appointment hours ONLY thing. Cause this wouldn't be the only time people want to come at the crack of dawn, or 2 am, that sort of thing. And usually it works out and it's only occasionally here and there, but I feel like these people have no respect. Do you go to a pet store and say, "hey, I know you open at 9. But I can make it there only at 5 am. Can you open four hours early for me? Pleeeeeeease????" Pet store would be like, "Uh, no. Not a chance. Come at 9. If we're in a good mood, maybe we'll let you in at 8:55." And they'd be making WAY more money off the critters and supplies than I would, so....
Just got on the internet long enough to check if this person I'm talking about had paid my invoice.... cause they already paid for the chins and then wanted to get a cage, so I sent them an invoice for the cage. Saw a message on facebook -- someone already has chins and took in a mom and her kits and now those chins aren't all getting along, and so they need me to take in the mom. Mind you, this is the same person who thought that a cage that would fit three chins, for $80, was too much, a month or so ago. But they thought it'd be a good idea to take in multiple additional chins, and now the problem -- SURPRISE -- is they don't have another cage to separate all these chins into. Now, I do give em kudos because they don't want to keep the mom with a male cause they don't want babies... but shouldn't they have thought of that ahead of time? Without knowing more details, best guess is, mom and babies are female, their current chin is male (well, I know their current chin is male, cause this person always acts interested in my male chins and wants to see pics and it never goes anywhere from there). But then the mom and babies aren't getting along, and why doesn't it surprise me... that they're getting rid of mom. And now that I go to my newsfeed, this person has posted that the female bites and sprays. Wonderful. I suppose, good thing I have a waiting list and I'm nowhere near getting people off it just quite yet. I asked if he wanted to be added to it, but, as always, I go in order of who got on the list first (exception being someone who's returning one of my chins, they go to the top of the list), and I probably have 5 people on the list.
Ok so one more thing. To get the chins ready to go.... packed up food, goodie bags, business card. Wrote out two pickup forms, adoption contract, and invoice. Got a box ready with holes, got the tape. The cage they wanted was buried (even moreso since furniture has made its way down there recently), so I moved all the furniture to unearth the cage, and moved that considerably closer to the basement steps -- which I know I can't get it up myself. Maybe this doesn't sound like a lot of stuff. It really doesn't to me, now that I've typed it. But figure, if they don't show up.... that's a lot of shit done for nothing. That cage has sat around over a year here at the rescue (for sale the entire time... not a popular choice I guess), so it'll just have to be moved back. I'm at a lack of space as it is, so the food and goodie bags will need to be put back in their respective places to wait for the next adoption. The goodie bags have their own container, and the food -- I like to scoop fresh for every adoption so the adopters get the most current food I have for their critters. Not to mention, the forms and all that.... well, fingers crossed they show up.
Ok one more last thing. Remember that person who had the female chin and wanted the male and then we talked about it and then they said they wanted Puff? That was like a few weeks ago, but all on facebook? Yeah, never heard back from them. Also, have had 3 people email about Nyler, all in the last week. All asked for care packet and adoption form. None have emailed that back.
Oh and the same person who was interested in three chins and a rabbit, back when.... but then decided, after dragging it out, that they couldn't make the drive. Oops, my bad, they never had a car and had to have a friend drive them, and didn't think to ask that friend, would the friend drive them, before contacting me. So of course, when they asked, friend said no, too far. Yeah. They just emailed me about another rabbit and asked how far I am from their hometown. Now, I could see if it was just a general ad, cause not all my ads specifically say the rescue name -- but the ad they responded to was on RescueMe, which SPECIFICALLY says on the listings (for example), "chinchilla locates at NWI Chinchilla Rescue, Hammond, IN." Now, I know they saw the rescue name before, when they were emailing about the other animals, cause I sent them two care packets and two adoption forms, all with the rescue name on it, and yet they still emailed about the other rabbit. Does no one READ anymore?
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Phone Coma
So, best way to word it, is, my phone's in a coma. I can see what's on the screen, it will beep and briiiiiing and everything, but the touchscreen isn't working. Wonderful. They're sending me another one, but say it will be a few days.
Which is just freaking wonderful, considering I have texts on there from people wanting to adopt, that I can't see their entire phone number (so even if I had access to another text-capable phone, wouldn't do me any good), that I'll never be able to get ahold of. I kid you not, in the last 3 days of the phone not working (and me not being able to make it to Verizon due to my work, in their hours they're open), I got at least 3-4 texts from people that said, "I'm interested in adopting _____" and so on. But I can't see their full phone number, can't text them back, and Verizon's only thing they can "maybe" help me with (and I quote "but they doubt it and can't promise anything") is getting my contacts. So those texts are lost forever. Same with the 10 voicemails that are from local numbers that I can't listen to.
Sure hope all of those were people who would have sucked as new homes, cause at this point, this is really sucking the life out of my day. For once, I have no craigslist (or other) ads up for ANYTHING other than chinchillas. So if I even could see the numbers, I could get back to these people, but I can't get off the first screen of the phone, where you have to swipe to the right to get to the main screen with all the apps.
One person who usually gets food from me -- they're in my contacts. But the thing is, I could see they were calling and texting me, but I don't have their number written down anywhere else (that will change once I get my new phone and get numbers re-entered). Well anyway, I saw they'd called numerous times, and pretty much the only thing they ever get from me is food, but I couldn't call em back. Thank god, they decided to email me and ask if I was still selling food, and I was able to call them from work and get ahold of them. They always pay by credit card (which is on my phone), so I had to download the credit card app onto my tablet and do it that way. I tell ya, what a hassle to have the phone go down when I use it so much for the rescue.
On a positive note -- had someone email about adopting Nyler. Wanted to know how he was with dogs and, possibly not so positive, wanted to know if they had to come pick him up or if I'd drop him off. I told em, we don't deliver. Which we don't. About the most I will do for people is bring supplies to where I work, since I'm going there anyway, 5 days a week. But I just can't start becoming a rescue delivery service for the animals -- the vet sure won't deliver their services to your house, and even if they WILL do a housecall, they sure can't do surgery in your living room if needed. Well, maybe this person will decide that they'll drive to come pick him up. We shall see. They did email back asking for the care packet and adoption form, though, so that's positive!
Oh! Remember the lady who said she didn't necessarily want to breed, but just wanted them as pets, and I told her, well, if you put together a male and female, they will breed? The one that bolded the thing about "it's the same transaction"? Yeah, I got another email from her. Boy is she acting like a know-it-all. First, she started on how all the research that I'm talking about (I guess the thing about whites having a lethal gene?) is coming from studies that have been hurried and pushed through by people who have a stake in them. Um, no, they come from ranchers who've been breeding for years who've figured this stuff out. She's not interested in arguing though, she said.
And then, and I will copy and paste, cause this is too good to paraphrase: "As an FYI: Many of the lines of top show dogs began from dogs acquired at the local dog pound (humane society)." Wonderful. Let's all start over with chins, because of her wonderful knowledge. Let's take malo chins, fur chewers, the skinniest, rattiest chins you can find, and let's breed em. Heck, why start with good chins, when we can start with rescues. Don't get me wrong. Years ago, when there weren't specialized dog breeds, I'm sure they did start from less-than-stellar dogs. But now, there's no reason to breed junk. Same with chins. We've come this far, no reason to go back to the beginning.
And another one I just cannot paraphrase, " The HSUS has done so much damage to the agriculture community that breeders are few and far between of all species." Um, wtf? There's WAAAAAAAAY too many breeders of every freaking species. Why does she think there's so many pit bulls in humane societies? Cause every time you turn around, someone's having a litter of em. Same with just about every other animal. This lady has lost her mind. She said she might contact me in the future to get some chins, but I don't think she'll be getting any from me, with this sort of nonsense. She'd be churning out malo, furchewing chins left and right. No thank you.
Had someone who's wanting to return one of my chins email to ask how that's coming along. As I still have chins coming out my ears (way more than just what should be in my normal rescue cages), I asked her to wait a bit... hopefully adoptions pick up soon.
Had China out on a trial run, but the person isn't going to adopt her. Boo. Said they had some bills come up and extra hours at work, so they can't adopt her. Ah well. Gotta find a cage to put her in, as her cage now has other chins in it that managed to find their way to the rescue while she was gone.
Got an email about someone wanting to adopt Myshkin. We shall see if this pans out, but they sound like a good home from what they told me about their current chins and how they're caring for them. They responded to my email about if they wanted the care packet and adoption form, so I sent those to them. Fingers crossed.
Had some people stop by my work yesterday, and put in an application to adopt Puff. I need to get a cage and stuff together for them. They don't have email or internet, so they never would have found me if I didn't have the chinchilla in the store, and I had Myshkin there and a binder with pictures and info of the available chins. Awesome.
Been emailing back and forth with a guy who wants to get chinchillas to breed... in March. Told em, no idea what I'll have for sale then, if I'll even have any pedigreed chins for sale then. This is another one -- oh they're just going to be pets -- but he wants a male and a female. Uh-huh. I told em, they will breed, it's called "breeding." So he was asking prices and I told him, prices are different for adults and babies, and I told him how they have to be big enough and have the right qualities to breed, so now he's settled on, he wants adults, since I told him, if you get babies, you can't guarantee they'll get big enough or look good enough to breed. But wait, I thought he wanted them as pets? Uh-huh. Anyway, so he asked about what it'd cost for cages and all that... so I explained, he needs babysafe cages, and at least two of em, cause he can't just keep mom and dad together forever or it stresses the female out, and between two chins, cages, and a few other supplies he asked about, he was at $500 for two chins and two cages and some extra food and treats. And that didn't count dust, dust houses, food bowls, water bottles, hidey houses, etc etc. And this is cheaper than a pet store. Just depends though, on what's here at the time he wants to get chins.... Anyway, point being, this is a perfect example of people planning ahead. Maybe he needs to save the money for it. The only "problem" with planning ahead, is I can't promise what I will have here, at that time, in terms of cages and chins, but this is someone who's thinking for the future. Rather than the usual, "oh that's too expensive, I'll just get it off craigslist" people.
Ok, gotta go to work now. Taking my tablet with, so if you need me, message me on facebook or email me. Thanks.
Which is just freaking wonderful, considering I have texts on there from people wanting to adopt, that I can't see their entire phone number (so even if I had access to another text-capable phone, wouldn't do me any good), that I'll never be able to get ahold of. I kid you not, in the last 3 days of the phone not working (and me not being able to make it to Verizon due to my work, in their hours they're open), I got at least 3-4 texts from people that said, "I'm interested in adopting _____" and so on. But I can't see their full phone number, can't text them back, and Verizon's only thing they can "maybe" help me with (and I quote "but they doubt it and can't promise anything") is getting my contacts. So those texts are lost forever. Same with the 10 voicemails that are from local numbers that I can't listen to.
Sure hope all of those were people who would have sucked as new homes, cause at this point, this is really sucking the life out of my day. For once, I have no craigslist (or other) ads up for ANYTHING other than chinchillas. So if I even could see the numbers, I could get back to these people, but I can't get off the first screen of the phone, where you have to swipe to the right to get to the main screen with all the apps.
One person who usually gets food from me -- they're in my contacts. But the thing is, I could see they were calling and texting me, but I don't have their number written down anywhere else (that will change once I get my new phone and get numbers re-entered). Well anyway, I saw they'd called numerous times, and pretty much the only thing they ever get from me is food, but I couldn't call em back. Thank god, they decided to email me and ask if I was still selling food, and I was able to call them from work and get ahold of them. They always pay by credit card (which is on my phone), so I had to download the credit card app onto my tablet and do it that way. I tell ya, what a hassle to have the phone go down when I use it so much for the rescue.
On a positive note -- had someone email about adopting Nyler. Wanted to know how he was with dogs and, possibly not so positive, wanted to know if they had to come pick him up or if I'd drop him off. I told em, we don't deliver. Which we don't. About the most I will do for people is bring supplies to where I work, since I'm going there anyway, 5 days a week. But I just can't start becoming a rescue delivery service for the animals -- the vet sure won't deliver their services to your house, and even if they WILL do a housecall, they sure can't do surgery in your living room if needed. Well, maybe this person will decide that they'll drive to come pick him up. We shall see. They did email back asking for the care packet and adoption form, though, so that's positive!
Oh! Remember the lady who said she didn't necessarily want to breed, but just wanted them as pets, and I told her, well, if you put together a male and female, they will breed? The one that bolded the thing about "it's the same transaction"? Yeah, I got another email from her. Boy is she acting like a know-it-all. First, she started on how all the research that I'm talking about (I guess the thing about whites having a lethal gene?) is coming from studies that have been hurried and pushed through by people who have a stake in them. Um, no, they come from ranchers who've been breeding for years who've figured this stuff out. She's not interested in arguing though, she said.
And then, and I will copy and paste, cause this is too good to paraphrase: "As an FYI: Many of the lines of top show dogs began from dogs acquired at the local dog pound (humane society)." Wonderful. Let's all start over with chins, because of her wonderful knowledge. Let's take malo chins, fur chewers, the skinniest, rattiest chins you can find, and let's breed em. Heck, why start with good chins, when we can start with rescues. Don't get me wrong. Years ago, when there weren't specialized dog breeds, I'm sure they did start from less-than-stellar dogs. But now, there's no reason to breed junk. Same with chins. We've come this far, no reason to go back to the beginning.
And another one I just cannot paraphrase, " The HSUS has done so much damage to the agriculture community that breeders are few and far between of all species." Um, wtf? There's WAAAAAAAAY too many breeders of every freaking species. Why does she think there's so many pit bulls in humane societies? Cause every time you turn around, someone's having a litter of em. Same with just about every other animal. This lady has lost her mind. She said she might contact me in the future to get some chins, but I don't think she'll be getting any from me, with this sort of nonsense. She'd be churning out malo, furchewing chins left and right. No thank you.
Had someone who's wanting to return one of my chins email to ask how that's coming along. As I still have chins coming out my ears (way more than just what should be in my normal rescue cages), I asked her to wait a bit... hopefully adoptions pick up soon.
Had China out on a trial run, but the person isn't going to adopt her. Boo. Said they had some bills come up and extra hours at work, so they can't adopt her. Ah well. Gotta find a cage to put her in, as her cage now has other chins in it that managed to find their way to the rescue while she was gone.
Got an email about someone wanting to adopt Myshkin. We shall see if this pans out, but they sound like a good home from what they told me about their current chins and how they're caring for them. They responded to my email about if they wanted the care packet and adoption form, so I sent those to them. Fingers crossed.
Had some people stop by my work yesterday, and put in an application to adopt Puff. I need to get a cage and stuff together for them. They don't have email or internet, so they never would have found me if I didn't have the chinchilla in the store, and I had Myshkin there and a binder with pictures and info of the available chins. Awesome.
Been emailing back and forth with a guy who wants to get chinchillas to breed... in March. Told em, no idea what I'll have for sale then, if I'll even have any pedigreed chins for sale then. This is another one -- oh they're just going to be pets -- but he wants a male and a female. Uh-huh. I told em, they will breed, it's called "breeding." So he was asking prices and I told him, prices are different for adults and babies, and I told him how they have to be big enough and have the right qualities to breed, so now he's settled on, he wants adults, since I told him, if you get babies, you can't guarantee they'll get big enough or look good enough to breed. But wait, I thought he wanted them as pets? Uh-huh. Anyway, so he asked about what it'd cost for cages and all that... so I explained, he needs babysafe cages, and at least two of em, cause he can't just keep mom and dad together forever or it stresses the female out, and between two chins, cages, and a few other supplies he asked about, he was at $500 for two chins and two cages and some extra food and treats. And that didn't count dust, dust houses, food bowls, water bottles, hidey houses, etc etc. And this is cheaper than a pet store. Just depends though, on what's here at the time he wants to get chins.... Anyway, point being, this is a perfect example of people planning ahead. Maybe he needs to save the money for it. The only "problem" with planning ahead, is I can't promise what I will have here, at that time, in terms of cages and chins, but this is someone who's thinking for the future. Rather than the usual, "oh that's too expensive, I'll just get it off craigslist" people.
Ok, gotta go to work now. Taking my tablet with, so if you need me, message me on facebook or email me. Thanks.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
And again
So, I had someone email asking about getting a chin. They said they were interested in getting a couple. Based on their description, they wanted a mosaic, and I said, oh I have two. Told them about them, and they wanted both. Well, both are a male and a female, and both are rescues. And I told them, there's a lethal gene, that's why we don't adopt out rescues to breeding homes (cause the average person owning a chinchilla and wanting to breed has no clue about such things), and she had asked about price, so I told her, either one would be $100. And I told her, there's an adoption form and care packet that need to be read and filled out, in order to adopt.
So she emails back, she has to think about getting a chin from me. So, that's fine. So I emailed back, saying, well if you decide you want to adopt, just let me know. I get an email back that says, she doesn't want to adopt, she wants to buy a chin. Well, sure, we're talking about different chins then, but I told her, it's the same thing as far as the care packet, adoption form. Cause I told her, just because my own pedigreed chins aren't rescues, I still want them to go to chin-knowledgeable homes. Those people still have to read it all and fill it all out too.
So I got an email back from her. She went down to the email I sent her, and changed what I wrote so that it was huge and bold and instead of saying (the beginning part anyway): "That's fine. Regardless of buying or adopting, it's the same as far as reading the care packet and filling out the form. I still want the pedigreed, better quality chins to go to knowlegeable homes..." and so on and so forth. She bolded, enlarged, and changed that all to read:
That's fine.
Regardless of buying or adopting, it's the same transaction
Now, can you please tell me... what was the point of that? Should I be sorry that I was too wordy for her? Should I only care where the rescue chins go, but let anyone with $150 walk off with a pedigreed chin? I think not. Regardless of the chin (or whatever critter), everyone gets to read a care packet and fill out an adoption form. You know who's the exception? Someone who's a known breeder buying a chin (generally at a show) who's done well at the show. In the chin world, the quality breeders want their chins to be cared for correctly, so they breed for them. And those people would only want a pedigreed chin that had done well at show, with good lines, and would not be trying to put white + white together. So I know they'd care for them fine. Everyone else gets acare packet and an adoption form, and if they don't like it, tough shit, they can go elsewhere.
Anyway, so I got an email back that said, "Next time you go to sell a Chin, you might think about educating a new buyer instead of insulting. All those “knowledgeable” breeders once started as “newbies.”"
Great. The only thing I think I said, which she must have taken as insulting, was when I made a comment about how you can't put two whites together, because you'll create a lethal gene. And I said, for pet people, that's why we don't sell a male and female together, because the average pet person doesn't know that. She never once said anything about breeding, so I assumed she wanted pets.
Anyway, my response:
Unrelated...
Had two people email today asking for babies. One got a chin from me a few years ago, and wanted a baby female. Well, even the absolute youngest chins I have are... males. Youngest female I have right now is on a trial run and is coming up on 1 year of age. So I told her, unless she decides she's up for older ones, I have nothing at the moment. Got an email back, saying she's just looking for a buddy for her chin, an older one could work out. So she's going to get back to me on when she can make it out here to see how her chin does with others. Yay.
Another that emailed wanted a baby female ebony. Also told her, all males at the moment, and she said, well, if nothing available, maybe within the next 1-2 months. Well, for me to have a chin ready in the next 1-2 months, it would have already been born, and the only chin that was born recently was Nikki's baby -- which is a standard female who will be staying here to be shown.
So she emails back, she has to think about getting a chin from me. So, that's fine. So I emailed back, saying, well if you decide you want to adopt, just let me know. I get an email back that says, she doesn't want to adopt, she wants to buy a chin. Well, sure, we're talking about different chins then, but I told her, it's the same thing as far as the care packet, adoption form. Cause I told her, just because my own pedigreed chins aren't rescues, I still want them to go to chin-knowledgeable homes. Those people still have to read it all and fill it all out too.
So I got an email back from her. She went down to the email I sent her, and changed what I wrote so that it was huge and bold and instead of saying (the beginning part anyway): "That's fine. Regardless of buying or adopting, it's the same as far as reading the care packet and filling out the form. I still want the pedigreed, better quality chins to go to knowlegeable homes..." and so on and so forth. She bolded, enlarged, and changed that all to read:
That's fine.
Regardless of buying or adopting, it's the same transaction
Now, can you please tell me... what was the point of that? Should I be sorry that I was too wordy for her? Should I only care where the rescue chins go, but let anyone with $150 walk off with a pedigreed chin? I think not. Regardless of the chin (or whatever critter), everyone gets to read a care packet and fill out an adoption form. You know who's the exception? Someone who's a known breeder buying a chin (generally at a show) who's done well at the show. In the chin world, the quality breeders want their chins to be cared for correctly, so they breed for them. And those people would only want a pedigreed chin that had done well at show, with good lines, and would not be trying to put white + white together. So I know they'd care for them fine. Everyone else gets acare packet and an adoption form, and if they don't like it, tough shit, they can go elsewhere.
Anyway, so I got an email back that said, "Next time you go to sell a Chin, you might think about educating a new buyer instead of insulting. All those “knowledgeable” breeders once started as “newbies.”"
Great. The only thing I think I said, which she must have taken as insulting, was when I made a comment about how you can't put two whites together, because you'll create a lethal gene. And I said, for pet people, that's why we don't sell a male and female together, because the average pet person doesn't know that. She never once said anything about breeding, so I assumed she wanted pets.
Anyway, my response:
I
was not intending to insult. That said, you never mentioned you wanted
to breed. I feel like if you had made your intentions a bit more
clear, our conversation would have started completely differently. I
re-read your first email to see if maybe I somehow mis-interpreted
something. The only thing you said about what you wanted to get was
that you wanted to get a "couple of chins." Maybe you intended that to
mean a couple as in, a male and a female. I took it as, a couple, meaning, a pair. Which is what I get requests for, mostly.
Had I known you were looking to get into breeding, I would have let you know that most of the chins I have that are available are rescues. Just like dogs and cats at the humane society, those specific chins should not be bred. On the other hand, I have the show chins, and their offspring, which have pedigrees, and potentially could be bred. Though, even that depends on how well they do at show. Just because someone has a pedigreed chin doesn't automatically make it worthy of breeding. Two awesome chins that did well at show could basically have a dud baby. It could be lacking in fur strength and have lay down fur and bad clarity, and should just be a pet. Even with stellar parents. Sort of like how two tall people sometimes have a short kid. They don't always get the right genes.
Also, had you mentioned the desire to breed, I'd have mentioned completely different chins. For example, right now I'm not selling off any breeders, though I may have some young pedigreed chins that may be sold after this next show. Depending on how they do. For me to keep them, they'd have to do stellar, but a lot of breeders will breed chins that get 1sts or 2nds. Just depends on the breeder.
But see, without knowing that, that's why I responded the way I did. Most people who email me want chins as pets, and if they don't specify, I do my best to email them what they asked for. Like, for example, you said you wanted the white with grey & black -- mosaic -- so I told you about the two that are available right now. With what I knew, that was what fit.
I don't mean to tell you what to do, but when you talk to another breeder, you might try to be more specific in terms of what you want. If you just mention you want a mosaic, you may very well get a pet quality mosaic. If you really want to get into breeding, you'll want to mention that, or at the very least, that you want a show-quality chin, or one that has been shown, so you know how it has done.
----end of email
All that said... I feel like someone who got that upset about an offhand comment about how the average pet person doesn't understand that there's a lethal gene in white chins and that's why we don't sell a male & female pair to pet people... I feel like they probably wouldn't do well with the chin comments at show. Just saying.
Unrelated...
Had two people email today asking for babies. One got a chin from me a few years ago, and wanted a baby female. Well, even the absolute youngest chins I have are... males. Youngest female I have right now is on a trial run and is coming up on 1 year of age. So I told her, unless she decides she's up for older ones, I have nothing at the moment. Got an email back, saying she's just looking for a buddy for her chin, an older one could work out. So she's going to get back to me on when she can make it out here to see how her chin does with others. Yay.
Another that emailed wanted a baby female ebony. Also told her, all males at the moment, and she said, well, if nothing available, maybe within the next 1-2 months. Well, for me to have a chin ready in the next 1-2 months, it would have already been born, and the only chin that was born recently was Nikki's baby -- which is a standard female who will be staying here to be shown.
Monday, November 24, 2014
And the usual continues.
So, perhaps unsurprisingly, the person who was wanting the male... and then when I explained I wouldn't adopt them a male, then wanted a female, so I showed her the pic of the white female I have... remember her? Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have not heard back since I emailed her the care packet and adoption form.
Got a call yesterday asking what our hours were. Told em, the rescue is run out of the house, I have a day-job, the rescue's open by appointment. Did they want to make an appointment? No. This isn't a pet store. Sorry?
Got a call today, asking if we still had the rabbit. Asked which rabbit, and they told me Nyler, and I told em, yes we do. Oh, and do we deliver? Oh hell no. The area code was 312, which is Chicago. Pretty sure the vet doesn't deliver their services, and neither do we. Or any pet store, for that matter. Not sorry. Betting those people would think an adoption form and care packet would be too much hassle as well, if they have to make the effort to *gasp* go and pick up their new pet.
Got a text from someone in Carmel, IN, saying they wanted to meet some of the younger chins. So I texted back, asking when they wanted to come by. Nothing. No response, nothing, nada. Makes me wonder, did they think I just bring the rescue to people's houses as well?
Sometimes though, there are things that happen that are totally my fault... like scheduling someone to come tonight (scheduled them weeks ago) to borrow one of my cages. They borrow it around the holidays, every holiday, and usually donate, and very nice people. And the chins they have are from here. Well anyway, few days ago, I had China (chinchilla) go for a trial run, and I gave them that cage. Next thing I know, I flip the page in my planner and see, hey, I'm supposed to be lending out that cage on Monday! Whoops! So today, the person doing the trial run was nice enough to meet me at my work to swap cages, so I could get that one back.
Another person texted and asked if I still had Nyler. I texted em back, literally three minutes later, saying yes I did still have him and he's still available. Nothing. And it's not like I wasted four hours to text this person back, it was three minutes. So at some point, I texted again, asking if they were looking to possibly adopt him. Waaaay later I finally got a response, asking if he was good with dogs and cats, if he was cuddly, and where I was located.
Another positive note, Mudpuddle was officially adopted today! He was out on a trial run since before my grandma died, but we had to reschedule his actual adoption a few times, but finally settled on today, and now he's officially adopted. Who-hoo!!
Got a call yesterday asking what our hours were. Told em, the rescue is run out of the house, I have a day-job, the rescue's open by appointment. Did they want to make an appointment? No. This isn't a pet store. Sorry?
Got a call today, asking if we still had the rabbit. Asked which rabbit, and they told me Nyler, and I told em, yes we do. Oh, and do we deliver? Oh hell no. The area code was 312, which is Chicago. Pretty sure the vet doesn't deliver their services, and neither do we. Or any pet store, for that matter. Not sorry. Betting those people would think an adoption form and care packet would be too much hassle as well, if they have to make the effort to *gasp* go and pick up their new pet.
Got a text from someone in Carmel, IN, saying they wanted to meet some of the younger chins. So I texted back, asking when they wanted to come by. Nothing. No response, nothing, nada. Makes me wonder, did they think I just bring the rescue to people's houses as well?
Sometimes though, there are things that happen that are totally my fault... like scheduling someone to come tonight (scheduled them weeks ago) to borrow one of my cages. They borrow it around the holidays, every holiday, and usually donate, and very nice people. And the chins they have are from here. Well anyway, few days ago, I had China (chinchilla) go for a trial run, and I gave them that cage. Next thing I know, I flip the page in my planner and see, hey, I'm supposed to be lending out that cage on Monday! Whoops! So today, the person doing the trial run was nice enough to meet me at my work to swap cages, so I could get that one back.
Another person texted and asked if I still had Nyler. I texted em back, literally three minutes later, saying yes I did still have him and he's still available. Nothing. And it's not like I wasted four hours to text this person back, it was three minutes. So at some point, I texted again, asking if they were looking to possibly adopt him. Waaaay later I finally got a response, asking if he was good with dogs and cats, if he was cuddly, and where I was located.
Another positive note, Mudpuddle was officially adopted today! He was out on a trial run since before my grandma died, but we had to reschedule his actual adoption a few times, but finally settled on today, and now he's officially adopted. Who-hoo!!
Friday, November 21, 2014
The usual
The usual has been going on.
Did have one person pick up a chin for a trial run. That's good. Always a plus.
Another couple came and bought a chin and a cage. Very happy bout that.
Another called cause someone they know is in the state and they wanted to pick up a chin before they left. Long story short, they say they're going to get the chins, supposed to be sending me a deposit (fingers crossed!), but now they're gonna pick em up in December.
But other than that, called one person back. A guy left the message, a woman answered. I said I got a call asking about chinchillas. She said, "yeah we called awhile back." Awhile back as in... yesterday? I wasn't aware time passes so quickly.
Another one, got an email about a chin asking if he was still available. Well, the chin was a she, so I let them know (just in case they thought it was a he) and they said, oh, it doesn't matter. They found one closer to home.
Got a call from a previous home, asking about whether an ingredient in food was ok. Always good to ask just to check. :)
Got an email asking for more pics of a certain chin. Not sure which ones they saw, so I sent them the 5 that I have. It's a grey chin, so she looks the same from about all angles, but...
Had one person a few days ago who wanted me to ship a chinchilla a few states away. No can do, sorry.
Had a person message on facebook asking for a male chin. At some point, they said they had a chin, so I asked, is it a male? They said something along the lines of, oh they have a big cage and a second cage. Was that what I asked? I don't think so. I told them what males I had and asked again, is their chin male or female. Oh, it's a female, but they want a male. Of course they do. They went on to say they tried putting their chin with a family members chin and they got along. Great, that doesn't mean that just cause those two got along that any chin they put with it will get along. And of course, by saying that, that tends to imply that they do want to put them together. But, I should know better than to assume (but still to not be stupid) and I asked them, do they intend to put them together. So, surprise surprise, she says yes, they'd like to put them together. Well, knowing that right there, she's not adopting a male.
So I told her, since she has a female, she couldn't adopt a male, and asked, why a male. Oh, they had a male before and let them play together but had them in separate cages. *face palm* Yes, because playing together would never give them the opportunity to breed *dripping sarcasm* (in case ya couldn't tell). So I told her that -- it literally takes a second for them to breed, so playing together is just as bad... and if she doesn't want babies, there's pretty much no reason for her to get a male.
So, she ends up saying, well, a female would be fine too, she just wants a buddy for her chin. Did we really have to take the long way around to get to this? Anyway, long story short, I didn't have any females in the age range shes wanted, but I did have one a little older, a mosaic (the color she originally wanted), so I showed her the pic, and she asked how we'd go about adopting. So I emailed her the stuff. Now, we are waiting....
Did have one person pick up a chin for a trial run. That's good. Always a plus.
Another couple came and bought a chin and a cage. Very happy bout that.
Another called cause someone they know is in the state and they wanted to pick up a chin before they left. Long story short, they say they're going to get the chins, supposed to be sending me a deposit (fingers crossed!), but now they're gonna pick em up in December.
But other than that, called one person back. A guy left the message, a woman answered. I said I got a call asking about chinchillas. She said, "yeah we called awhile back." Awhile back as in... yesterday? I wasn't aware time passes so quickly.
Another one, got an email about a chin asking if he was still available. Well, the chin was a she, so I let them know (just in case they thought it was a he) and they said, oh, it doesn't matter. They found one closer to home.
Got a call from a previous home, asking about whether an ingredient in food was ok. Always good to ask just to check. :)
Got an email asking for more pics of a certain chin. Not sure which ones they saw, so I sent them the 5 that I have. It's a grey chin, so she looks the same from about all angles, but...
Had one person a few days ago who wanted me to ship a chinchilla a few states away. No can do, sorry.
Had a person message on facebook asking for a male chin. At some point, they said they had a chin, so I asked, is it a male? They said something along the lines of, oh they have a big cage and a second cage. Was that what I asked? I don't think so. I told them what males I had and asked again, is their chin male or female. Oh, it's a female, but they want a male. Of course they do. They went on to say they tried putting their chin with a family members chin and they got along. Great, that doesn't mean that just cause those two got along that any chin they put with it will get along. And of course, by saying that, that tends to imply that they do want to put them together. But, I should know better than to assume (but still to not be stupid) and I asked them, do they intend to put them together. So, surprise surprise, she says yes, they'd like to put them together. Well, knowing that right there, she's not adopting a male.
So I told her, since she has a female, she couldn't adopt a male, and asked, why a male. Oh, they had a male before and let them play together but had them in separate cages. *face palm* Yes, because playing together would never give them the opportunity to breed *dripping sarcasm* (in case ya couldn't tell). So I told her that -- it literally takes a second for them to breed, so playing together is just as bad... and if she doesn't want babies, there's pretty much no reason for her to get a male.
So, she ends up saying, well, a female would be fine too, she just wants a buddy for her chin. Did we really have to take the long way around to get to this? Anyway, long story short, I didn't have any females in the age range shes wanted, but I did have one a little older, a mosaic (the color she originally wanted), so I showed her the pic, and she asked how we'd go about adopting. So I emailed her the stuff. Now, we are waiting....
Monday, November 10, 2014
Chicago Pet Show and People
So, first off, we had our last Chicago Pet Show of the year this past weekend. We did reasonably well, considerably better than the last show, and got a decent amount in donations. Even had one person that seemed like a potentially good adopter. So fingers crossed that works out for us.
As far as other people... not a lot changes. I have someone right now that has one of my rabbits out on a trial run. We set up for them to come today at 5 pm, to adopt, fill out paperwork, what have you. At work today, we had a problem with the ordering gun, so I couldn't start ordering til about an hour before I had to go home. So, I had to stay a bit late to finish the ordering. Knowing I had a 5 pm person coming, I rushed home.
You can see where this is going, can't you? It's 5:43 as I type this, and they are not here. I rushed home, printed out all the stuff, filled my portion out, and am waiting for them... and nothing. I looked back at the texts to be sure, and yup, we said, this day, this time. We even said, we'd let each other know if anything came up. Nothing. No texts, no phone calls. I even texted this person and asked if they're still coming, nothing.
I won't go into what else I have going on, but I do have something pressing going on right now, and I'm writing this blog purposefully right now, so they can have an extra few minutes to get back to me before I pick up and leave. Because I really do have to go, and I had intended to already have left the house, because I was going to tell them, hey, I have this thing going on, didn't want to actually cancel, but wanted to make it a quick adoption (since their first visit they spent a few hours at the rescue).
I'm not mad. I'm mainly just tired, but besides that, I just feel like I'm wasting time. Even if I didn't have somewhere to be, there's a million different things I could be doing right now, but I'm waiting for this person to arrive. I can clean the house, sure. I can pick up and organize my desk. But the thing is, most things I need to actually do -- make stuff with the saw, clean the rescue -- if I start those, they're so loud that I won't easily hear a knock, doorbell, or my phone vibrating / ringing. So I can't do those while waiting for people. And at the end of the day, how hard would it be for this person to just text and say, hey, something came up. Maybe they forgot. Always a possibility, but then, is it that difficult to write things down?
Just frustrating. And now that they've had 19 minutes to respond to my initial text, I'm going to leave. And I'm not going to rush back home (not that I actually could, but we won't get into that), should they text me and say, oh they forgot, but they can come right now....
As far as other people... not a lot changes. I have someone right now that has one of my rabbits out on a trial run. We set up for them to come today at 5 pm, to adopt, fill out paperwork, what have you. At work today, we had a problem with the ordering gun, so I couldn't start ordering til about an hour before I had to go home. So, I had to stay a bit late to finish the ordering. Knowing I had a 5 pm person coming, I rushed home.
You can see where this is going, can't you? It's 5:43 as I type this, and they are not here. I rushed home, printed out all the stuff, filled my portion out, and am waiting for them... and nothing. I looked back at the texts to be sure, and yup, we said, this day, this time. We even said, we'd let each other know if anything came up. Nothing. No texts, no phone calls. I even texted this person and asked if they're still coming, nothing.
I won't go into what else I have going on, but I do have something pressing going on right now, and I'm writing this blog purposefully right now, so they can have an extra few minutes to get back to me before I pick up and leave. Because I really do have to go, and I had intended to already have left the house, because I was going to tell them, hey, I have this thing going on, didn't want to actually cancel, but wanted to make it a quick adoption (since their first visit they spent a few hours at the rescue).
I'm not mad. I'm mainly just tired, but besides that, I just feel like I'm wasting time. Even if I didn't have somewhere to be, there's a million different things I could be doing right now, but I'm waiting for this person to arrive. I can clean the house, sure. I can pick up and organize my desk. But the thing is, most things I need to actually do -- make stuff with the saw, clean the rescue -- if I start those, they're so loud that I won't easily hear a knock, doorbell, or my phone vibrating / ringing. So I can't do those while waiting for people. And at the end of the day, how hard would it be for this person to just text and say, hey, something came up. Maybe they forgot. Always a possibility, but then, is it that difficult to write things down?
Just frustrating. And now that they've had 19 minutes to respond to my initial text, I'm going to leave. And I'm not going to rush back home (not that I actually could, but we won't get into that), should they text me and say, oh they forgot, but they can come right now....
Friday, November 7, 2014
I just don't get it.
I just don't get it.
So many people tell me, oh the rescue's doing these awesome things. I will, for sure, be getting a chin from you, when I get one. I'll get a cage from you too, awesome deal. And then they text me one night when I'm at work, want to come over RIGHT THEN (because, you know, I have nothing better to do and can drop everything I'm doing to run home and sell you a cage), to get a cage. I can't make it, I tell them, will be out of town the rest of the week, we can schedule for next week. They say ok.
I get my work schedule and text them back (cause I was waiting for that to know which day I could do). Asked them, were they wanting a chin or a cage or both, cause their text wasn't super clear. For sure I thought cage but maybe chin also. Oh, they already got a chin and a cage. What? Thought they were so gung ho about getting one from the rescue. Now they just want to come over for food. Which is fine, but a $6.25 sale of food isn't going to pay to keep the rescue open.
And this is just one example... this happens a lot. It's sad, actually, how much, but these people just can't seem to wait a day or two to bring a 15-20 year pet into their lives. Which I think is utterly ridiculous, because people think I can just drop everything to accomodate them. Someone want to give me a million dollars to live off of, and I can sit home and run the rescue and do nothing else, and basically be at everyone's beck and call. But until that happens, I have a real job that requires 50+ hours a week, and I can't drop everything cause someone needs a cage right now. Sorry.
If I call one of the contacts in my phone, or even all the contacts in my phone, and say, hey, let's go out to lunch. Not tomorrow, not next week, but right now. How many of them do you think will drop what they're doing to go out to lunch with me? I guarantee you, probably no one. Probably, mostly, because.... wait for it... they're all at work and can't drop everything for the whim of one person. And no one would expect them to, because people would say, oh they're working. So why do people think it's ok to ask me to drop everything for them? Is my life not worth anything because I have a rescue, and that should come before anything else in my life? Why is that thought ok?
It's maddening on this end.
Adoptions have pretty much slowed to a halt. Now, dropoffs, ha. Exact opposite. I've never had a longer waiting list, and I've never had more people that have to get rid of their chins by yesterday, and need them to go somewhere. But people wanting to adopt? Not so much. Chins are spending inordinate amounts of time at the rescue. In January, Mama & Baby will have been at the rescue for a year. That's sad, considering, if you leave Mama alone, and enjoy holding and playing with Baby, you have a happy pair of chins. In March, Snickers will have been here a year. There is nothing wrong with these chins. They're just not freaking babies, which is all anyone seems to want anymore.
I know, I know, you go to a humane society, and they have oodles of puppies and kittens. But that's not how it works in chin rescues. Ask any one of em, your average chin is at least 3 years old, if not older, and often is not the poster child for the ideal chin. That's just how it is. There's not oodles of baby chins waiting to be adopted, and some of the ones that are available come with attitudes or health problems. Not all, but some. But that doesn't mean they deserve homes any less!
So many people tell me, oh the rescue's doing these awesome things. I will, for sure, be getting a chin from you, when I get one. I'll get a cage from you too, awesome deal. And then they text me one night when I'm at work, want to come over RIGHT THEN (because, you know, I have nothing better to do and can drop everything I'm doing to run home and sell you a cage), to get a cage. I can't make it, I tell them, will be out of town the rest of the week, we can schedule for next week. They say ok.
I get my work schedule and text them back (cause I was waiting for that to know which day I could do). Asked them, were they wanting a chin or a cage or both, cause their text wasn't super clear. For sure I thought cage but maybe chin also. Oh, they already got a chin and a cage. What? Thought they were so gung ho about getting one from the rescue. Now they just want to come over for food. Which is fine, but a $6.25 sale of food isn't going to pay to keep the rescue open.
And this is just one example... this happens a lot. It's sad, actually, how much, but these people just can't seem to wait a day or two to bring a 15-20 year pet into their lives. Which I think is utterly ridiculous, because people think I can just drop everything to accomodate them. Someone want to give me a million dollars to live off of, and I can sit home and run the rescue and do nothing else, and basically be at everyone's beck and call. But until that happens, I have a real job that requires 50+ hours a week, and I can't drop everything cause someone needs a cage right now. Sorry.
If I call one of the contacts in my phone, or even all the contacts in my phone, and say, hey, let's go out to lunch. Not tomorrow, not next week, but right now. How many of them do you think will drop what they're doing to go out to lunch with me? I guarantee you, probably no one. Probably, mostly, because.... wait for it... they're all at work and can't drop everything for the whim of one person. And no one would expect them to, because people would say, oh they're working. So why do people think it's ok to ask me to drop everything for them? Is my life not worth anything because I have a rescue, and that should come before anything else in my life? Why is that thought ok?
It's maddening on this end.
Adoptions have pretty much slowed to a halt. Now, dropoffs, ha. Exact opposite. I've never had a longer waiting list, and I've never had more people that have to get rid of their chins by yesterday, and need them to go somewhere. But people wanting to adopt? Not so much. Chins are spending inordinate amounts of time at the rescue. In January, Mama & Baby will have been at the rescue for a year. That's sad, considering, if you leave Mama alone, and enjoy holding and playing with Baby, you have a happy pair of chins. In March, Snickers will have been here a year. There is nothing wrong with these chins. They're just not freaking babies, which is all anyone seems to want anymore.
I know, I know, you go to a humane society, and they have oodles of puppies and kittens. But that's not how it works in chin rescues. Ask any one of em, your average chin is at least 3 years old, if not older, and often is not the poster child for the ideal chin. That's just how it is. There's not oodles of baby chins waiting to be adopted, and some of the ones that are available come with attitudes or health problems. Not all, but some. But that doesn't mean they deserve homes any less!
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Awesome Friday!
So, Friday was the best day the rescue's had in a long time. No adoptions or anything like that, but we had volunteers! It was AWESOME!
I had one set of people I set up for Friday... then remembered I had someone else who emailed me their work schedule... asked if they could come. Then remembered I had someone else who had said they were available Friday... and I checked if they could come. And EVERYONE showed up! So from something like 3:30 pm until after 10 pm, I had volunteers!
Before they all came, I cleaned out the drawers in my toy cart, so there'd be no toy crumbs or anything like that, so we could get started. We made just about every toy we have here, except for the fun chewies toy and the pinesical toy (neither of which are huge sellers). The pinesical toy doesn't even have a drawer in the cart, if that hints at how many of those sell per year. But the other toys -- anything goes, muncher's delight, pumice & triangles, and critter's delight all got made! Yay! This may not sound like a lot, but almost none of these were ready to make, everything had to be sanded and drilled and sanded again. Wire had to be cut, everything.
Also managed to get help getting everyone fed, watered, hay'd, given apple sticks and toilet paper rolls.
Also made some healthy treat mixes, but didn't have enough of the stickers that go on top of the jars to make more than three. Note: today, I found the labels I use for these jars and the mason jars, and I printed out more of the labels for the healthy treat mix, the supplement, and the herb sampler. So I will be able to make more of the healthy treat mix whenever... the others I need to get the mason jars for, first.
Also, got all the toys in all of the cages filled up with wood, and hung some new toys from Jean (TJ's) in the rescue cages.
Very very productive day. Now if I had every week, even with one volunteer, I would not be nearly so stressed. It was awesome to have some help, as doing this all myself would have taken days upon days, instead of a few hours. Thanks to everyone who came and helped!
I had one set of people I set up for Friday... then remembered I had someone else who emailed me their work schedule... asked if they could come. Then remembered I had someone else who had said they were available Friday... and I checked if they could come. And EVERYONE showed up! So from something like 3:30 pm until after 10 pm, I had volunteers!
Before they all came, I cleaned out the drawers in my toy cart, so there'd be no toy crumbs or anything like that, so we could get started. We made just about every toy we have here, except for the fun chewies toy and the pinesical toy (neither of which are huge sellers). The pinesical toy doesn't even have a drawer in the cart, if that hints at how many of those sell per year. But the other toys -- anything goes, muncher's delight, pumice & triangles, and critter's delight all got made! Yay! This may not sound like a lot, but almost none of these were ready to make, everything had to be sanded and drilled and sanded again. Wire had to be cut, everything.
Also managed to get help getting everyone fed, watered, hay'd, given apple sticks and toilet paper rolls.
Also made some healthy treat mixes, but didn't have enough of the stickers that go on top of the jars to make more than three. Note: today, I found the labels I use for these jars and the mason jars, and I printed out more of the labels for the healthy treat mix, the supplement, and the herb sampler. So I will be able to make more of the healthy treat mix whenever... the others I need to get the mason jars for, first.
Also, got all the toys in all of the cages filled up with wood, and hung some new toys from Jean (TJ's) in the rescue cages.
Very very productive day. Now if I had every week, even with one volunteer, I would not be nearly so stressed. It was awesome to have some help, as doing this all myself would have taken days upon days, instead of a few hours. Thanks to everyone who came and helped!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Moving Back to Home Country
Ok, so this has been bugging me lately, and maybe it's just me. But... I've had two people in the last month who have emailed me about bringing their chins to the rescue because they're going back to their home country. Don't get me wrong, that alone, I have no problem with.
Problem is... for both sets of people... they KNEW they were going to be in the US for a limited time. Without sharing the personal details, both knew they'd be here for a few years, and then go back. Yet they got pets. To me, this isn't very responsible.
I know, some devil's advocate will email me and will say, "well, maybe they didn't know how expensive it'd be to ship the pets back to their home country." Ok, I ship a box of mazuri to the next state over and it's $18. We're talking shipping a live animal overseas. A plane ticket for an animal in the US, typically runs as much as a plane seat for a human. An expensive plane seat, meaning $300+. Imagine overseas. I try to ship a box to the US with a hidey house and it's $20. Try to ship it to Canada and it's $60. Think of that in terms of shipping an animal. Almost no one except the super rich are ever going to do it.
And for both, they literally waited until a few days - a few weeks before going back to email and say they need to bring their chins in. Yes, just expect me to dump my entire waiting list to take in your chin because you couldn't plan ahead. Which actually, is exactly what happens.... cause if people are losing their house, or need their chin gone asap, I try to find a way to bring them in. But I still don't think it's fair.
Anyway, the first set of people was very nice, dropped off their chins, supplies, etc etc.
Second set, which is the one I'm chatting with now, had emailed me about dropping off three chins and their cage. Was supposed to be set for this weekend, but something came up. They emailed again and said, oh, they thought that their 2 other chins (on top of the three) had a home, but that didn't happen. Wanted to know if I could take all five. Also wanted to know if I could buy the chins a new FN and they'd pay for it.
Now, I could be wrong, and god knows I've been wrong before. But first thing that pops in my head when someone says, buy em a new cage is, "I want all these chins to go together, with the new cage." And maaaaaan, would that be a difficult, expensive adoption to pull off. In fact, it'd be downright impossible. I have a hard enough time adopting out two chins, since most people want one. So I emailed the person, asking if I understand this correctly, that they want all the chins (four of em, since the 5th is housed alone) adopted out together with the cage. I told them, if that's the case, I can't promise that. I told em, if they're adamant about that, I can't help them. Told em, I won't lie to em and say I'll adopt em all out together and then adopt them out separately, but I told em, most people think 2 chins is too many, much less three or four. Plus, a lot of people have their own cages, so saying, take four PLUS a new expensive cage... would be super expensive. Let's be honest here.
Four chins, let's just say they're all adults. If you adopt a pair when you don't have to, it's $25 off the pair. But when it's a pair you have to adopt together, there's no discount. So let's say they're all grey adults that's $75 x 4 = $300 just for the chins. Figure, a new FN, I saw one somewhere the other day for $175. Well, for a used cage I normally charge 60%, but one that's been used a super short time would be more like a new cage, so say 75%. So, $175 x 75% = $131.25. So that, plus the chins, $131.25 + $300 = $431.25. Now, who wants to get in line to adopt four chins and cage for $431.25? Anyone? No one?? It's not actually a bad deal, don't get me wrong. But I can't think of one person who's going to step up to adopt that. Not one. And figure, that doesn't include any food or anything else that those chins need. And four chins eat a bunch and need a ton of chew toys and stuff.
I told him, pairs would be fine, but I can't promise four. And I will not get myself suckered into any sob story about why they have to stay together. If they have to stay together, they can "have to stay together" elsewhere. Nothing against those chins, but trios might as well become permanent additions to the rescue due to people saying, "oh that's too many chins to take on at once." And I won't have my rescue fill up with chins that no one will adopt because of insane previous home requirements. Since when can you drop off your dog at the humane society and say, well it can only go to a home with no kids, and a nice old lady, and they must have a doggy door. Oh wait, you CAN'T! Even if you drop it off at a private rescue, they can't promise that and they will adopt out the dog to whoever they think is the best fit. They may lie and say they'll try their best to adopt someone's 10 dogs out to the same family, but they know they're lying and they know it won't happen. I won't do that, I won't lie to the people, but at the same time, I won't even make life 400x more difficult for me by saying I will try it. Because I won't.
Technically, I don't yet know if that's what this person meant. So, we shall see.
Problem is... for both sets of people... they KNEW they were going to be in the US for a limited time. Without sharing the personal details, both knew they'd be here for a few years, and then go back. Yet they got pets. To me, this isn't very responsible.
I know, some devil's advocate will email me and will say, "well, maybe they didn't know how expensive it'd be to ship the pets back to their home country." Ok, I ship a box of mazuri to the next state over and it's $18. We're talking shipping a live animal overseas. A plane ticket for an animal in the US, typically runs as much as a plane seat for a human. An expensive plane seat, meaning $300+. Imagine overseas. I try to ship a box to the US with a hidey house and it's $20. Try to ship it to Canada and it's $60. Think of that in terms of shipping an animal. Almost no one except the super rich are ever going to do it.
And for both, they literally waited until a few days - a few weeks before going back to email and say they need to bring their chins in. Yes, just expect me to dump my entire waiting list to take in your chin because you couldn't plan ahead. Which actually, is exactly what happens.... cause if people are losing their house, or need their chin gone asap, I try to find a way to bring them in. But I still don't think it's fair.
Anyway, the first set of people was very nice, dropped off their chins, supplies, etc etc.
Second set, which is the one I'm chatting with now, had emailed me about dropping off three chins and their cage. Was supposed to be set for this weekend, but something came up. They emailed again and said, oh, they thought that their 2 other chins (on top of the three) had a home, but that didn't happen. Wanted to know if I could take all five. Also wanted to know if I could buy the chins a new FN and they'd pay for it.
Now, I could be wrong, and god knows I've been wrong before. But first thing that pops in my head when someone says, buy em a new cage is, "I want all these chins to go together, with the new cage." And maaaaaan, would that be a difficult, expensive adoption to pull off. In fact, it'd be downright impossible. I have a hard enough time adopting out two chins, since most people want one. So I emailed the person, asking if I understand this correctly, that they want all the chins (four of em, since the 5th is housed alone) adopted out together with the cage. I told them, if that's the case, I can't promise that. I told em, if they're adamant about that, I can't help them. Told em, I won't lie to em and say I'll adopt em all out together and then adopt them out separately, but I told em, most people think 2 chins is too many, much less three or four. Plus, a lot of people have their own cages, so saying, take four PLUS a new expensive cage... would be super expensive. Let's be honest here.
Four chins, let's just say they're all adults. If you adopt a pair when you don't have to, it's $25 off the pair. But when it's a pair you have to adopt together, there's no discount. So let's say they're all grey adults that's $75 x 4 = $300 just for the chins. Figure, a new FN, I saw one somewhere the other day for $175. Well, for a used cage I normally charge 60%, but one that's been used a super short time would be more like a new cage, so say 75%. So, $175 x 75% = $131.25. So that, plus the chins, $131.25 + $300 = $431.25. Now, who wants to get in line to adopt four chins and cage for $431.25? Anyone? No one?? It's not actually a bad deal, don't get me wrong. But I can't think of one person who's going to step up to adopt that. Not one. And figure, that doesn't include any food or anything else that those chins need. And four chins eat a bunch and need a ton of chew toys and stuff.
I told him, pairs would be fine, but I can't promise four. And I will not get myself suckered into any sob story about why they have to stay together. If they have to stay together, they can "have to stay together" elsewhere. Nothing against those chins, but trios might as well become permanent additions to the rescue due to people saying, "oh that's too many chins to take on at once." And I won't have my rescue fill up with chins that no one will adopt because of insane previous home requirements. Since when can you drop off your dog at the humane society and say, well it can only go to a home with no kids, and a nice old lady, and they must have a doggy door. Oh wait, you CAN'T! Even if you drop it off at a private rescue, they can't promise that and they will adopt out the dog to whoever they think is the best fit. They may lie and say they'll try their best to adopt someone's 10 dogs out to the same family, but they know they're lying and they know it won't happen. I won't do that, I won't lie to the people, but at the same time, I won't even make life 400x more difficult for me by saying I will try it. Because I won't.
Technically, I don't yet know if that's what this person meant. So, we shall see.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Hi all
So, lots going on. Well, not really. But lots of emails. Mostly ones where I've been writing out long responses to people's questions, and then getting nothing in return (yet), but fingers crossed this week will be different.
This Friday, I have a couple coming to volunteer! Yay!
Had someone call today, saying they were here awhile ago looking at chins and cages. And they were, maybe a month or so ago. Asked about a $65 cage. Well, it was on sale then. The sale on the cages ended, and it's back to $90 now. They were disappointed.
Thing is, it's just like a sale at a grocery store. They don't go on forever. They end sooner or later, and when they do, the items go back to regular price. And if you miss the sale... you just end up paying regular price.
It's not unheard of, by any sense of the word, for me to get calls after I take down a chin sale that says, "hey, the chins were on sale last week!!" Yes, they were. And why didn't you call last week? Try going into a grocery store and pulling that. Will get you nowhere. Sorry, will get you nowhere here either. Especially since the cages were on sale from like March - late September. That's an awfully long sale.
Anyway, on a positive note, someone emailed about Gilly while I was in Kansas, so I just emailed them the care packet and adoption form today.
Got another email from someone who's moving out of country and can't keep their chin, and waited until the absolute last minute to email.
Got an email from someone who got a rabbit for their kid, now the rabbit's destroying the house, and they want to give it up. Passed that along to Megan at Cottontail.
Got another email from someone asking if we take in / buy chinchillas. Told em, we don't buy em (don't need to!), but we do accept surrenders, though we're full right now. But told em, if they want to get on the waiting list, they can. I can pretty much tell ya, they won't, though. The people that expect a rescue to pay for their chinchilla -- don't quite understand what a rescue does.
Got an email from a family that adopted some chins awhile back. Last year, they picked up supplies at our St. Charles / Kane County Expo... they want to do the same this year, so I will be getting their list and their supplies ready for when that expo comes around. Which is another thing -- if we're going to be at an expo that's close to you, we can bring supplies for you, if you want. If you don't want to come to the expo itself, we can meet you once it's done for the day, or whatever, we just ask that you please show up, so that we don't have like 50 pounds of food and several bags of treats and hay and then we have to bring it all back home with us. But we have no problem bringing extra with us if someone wants to stop by where we are and pick it up. Just fyi for the future, cause sometimes we may be a lot closer in your area at these expos.
Got an email from someone who dropped off two chins awhile back, wanting to know how they were doing. The one chin had unfortunately passed (I hate sending those type of emails), though it looked like in her sleep, so I told him that, and the other's still here, still doing well.
Got an email about two chins at a shelter that wants to transfer them here....
busy busy busy
This Friday, I have a couple coming to volunteer! Yay!
Had someone call today, saying they were here awhile ago looking at chins and cages. And they were, maybe a month or so ago. Asked about a $65 cage. Well, it was on sale then. The sale on the cages ended, and it's back to $90 now. They were disappointed.
Thing is, it's just like a sale at a grocery store. They don't go on forever. They end sooner or later, and when they do, the items go back to regular price. And if you miss the sale... you just end up paying regular price.
It's not unheard of, by any sense of the word, for me to get calls after I take down a chin sale that says, "hey, the chins were on sale last week!!" Yes, they were. And why didn't you call last week? Try going into a grocery store and pulling that. Will get you nowhere. Sorry, will get you nowhere here either. Especially since the cages were on sale from like March - late September. That's an awfully long sale.
Anyway, on a positive note, someone emailed about Gilly while I was in Kansas, so I just emailed them the care packet and adoption form today.
Got another email from someone who's moving out of country and can't keep their chin, and waited until the absolute last minute to email.
Got an email from someone who got a rabbit for their kid, now the rabbit's destroying the house, and they want to give it up. Passed that along to Megan at Cottontail.
Got another email from someone asking if we take in / buy chinchillas. Told em, we don't buy em (don't need to!), but we do accept surrenders, though we're full right now. But told em, if they want to get on the waiting list, they can. I can pretty much tell ya, they won't, though. The people that expect a rescue to pay for their chinchilla -- don't quite understand what a rescue does.
Got an email from a family that adopted some chins awhile back. Last year, they picked up supplies at our St. Charles / Kane County Expo... they want to do the same this year, so I will be getting their list and their supplies ready for when that expo comes around. Which is another thing -- if we're going to be at an expo that's close to you, we can bring supplies for you, if you want. If you don't want to come to the expo itself, we can meet you once it's done for the day, or whatever, we just ask that you please show up, so that we don't have like 50 pounds of food and several bags of treats and hay and then we have to bring it all back home with us. But we have no problem bringing extra with us if someone wants to stop by where we are and pick it up. Just fyi for the future, cause sometimes we may be a lot closer in your area at these expos.
Got an email from someone who dropped off two chins awhile back, wanting to know how they were doing. The one chin had unfortunately passed (I hate sending those type of emails), though it looked like in her sleep, so I told him that, and the other's still here, still doing well.
Got an email about two chins at a shelter that wants to transfer them here....
busy busy busy
Thursday, October 16, 2014
I know, I know....
I know it's all been negative posts on top of negative posts lately, but people... that's what's been going on. I've had people actually contact me and say, "post something positive." Like what? That I cleaned cages and fed the animals? Because since the last post, I've gotten 5 more emails about people wanting to surrender chins and exactly 0 emails about people wanting to adopt. No one coming to help. No one donating.
Not to mention, the person who was going to foster the rabbits, never got back to me about when would work for them to come by. So I messaged them the other day, asking if they still wanted to help. They said, oh yeah, and we set up a time, for today, between 10-11. Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's 11:43 now and they're still not here. Besides this being total and absolute bullshit, you know what I call this? An utter waste of time. For someone to say, oh, between 10-11ish works for them, I will make sure to be here between 9:30 and 11:30. Not that there's not stuff I can't do at home, but it almost never fails, the days I need to hang around here, waiting for people to show up (who never do show up), are days I need to be out and about doing things. And they never showed up, so certain errands never got done, and now I need to go to work. And still, those rabbits are here.
I find this very disappointing. I'd like to think, in general, people are good, people are helpful, people really do want to help. But then, no one shows up to volunteer, no one shows up to foster, people waste my time, no one returns my phone calls, when I call people back -- 90% of the time, the same day, they've already gotten an animal elsewhere cause they couldn't wait an hour for a return phone call -- remind me again why I'm doing this? And don't say "for the animals" cause they bite me make my asthma horrible and I really can't say I even like the animals all that much anymore. These people have ruined this for me.
Also, another thing that's going on that, probably because of all of the negativity currently going around, is rubbing me the wrong way. Who's seen the story of Freeway, the chinchilla that was thrown from a vehicle onto the freeway? If you're on facebook and in the chinchilla groups I'm in, you likely have. Well, they started a chip-in for him (or whatever they call it now, now that half those sites have closed down), and at the time I'm writing this, they've raised $512. http://www.youcaring.com/pet-expenses/freeway-s-fresh-start/248201 Don't get me wrong, I think that's great that people care and want to chip in. But let me ask you -- why is it that people will run to donate to a single chin that had a bad time at life, yet when actual rescues need help, no one lifts a finger or opens their pocketbook? When I posted about how horrible the rescue was doing, lack of sales, lack of adoptions, lack of time to do orders so people are backing out of them, one person -- ONE PERSON -- donated. And I thank that person, I really do. But if you look at that chip-in, that $512 wasn't one or two people, it was a lot of people donating a few bucks here and there. It's a lot of little donations that help. Unfortunately, we're getting almost none of those either.
Same with when I had my rescue at the Pet Supplies Plus. I'd talk to the people about how expensive it is to care for these critters, they wouldn't donate a freakin penny in my donation box, but then would go to the cat donation box and donate $20. Wtf? A lot of people that day even donated the change from their purchases.... to the cat or dog rescues. That change adds up. But we don't even get that.
We used to have multiple people purchasing food and supplies from here. Now, we routinely have two families that stop by for food and hay. And both do donate a little extra every time, which I greatly appreciate. But it doesn't make up for how it used to be when 20 families consistently purchased food and hay from here. I don't even get it -- it's CHEAPER to buy from here than to buy from the pet store, and most of these people are SUPER local, yet they go to the pet store and pay 3x the price to get the same item. When we had that many families consistently buying supplies, I didn't need as many donations. But now, when sales are pretty much nil, something has to pay for the critters.
But it still boggles my mind how everyone can bond together over one chin, and donate gobs of money for one chin, when chinchilla rescues are full of TONS of chins from bad situations. Maybe not the same situation, but bad situations nonetheless, and pretty much no one cares about those chins.
One person who wanted to help, well, their daughter wanted to help, said they couldn't bring their kid any further north than Crown Point. I hate to sound like an ass, but what good does that do me? They never adopted chins (and returned the rats they adopted anyway), so, no offense to them, but they wouldn't be any good to have at an adoption event at the PSP store, cause they have no idea about chin care... which is the basis of the rescue. Now, if I was going to bring rabbits to a chinchilla adoption event, I'm sure they'd do fine. But I typically bring chins, cause hello, this is a chin rescue. Other than an adoption event at the store, this is one of the people who said, oh, bring stuff by their house and they'll do it. Yes, because the prep time for me to do that is nothing. Nada. Oh wait, prep time to bring houses so they can sand them... prep time is at least 50%, and if I can barely keep cages clean, having houses made 50% of the way, multiple all at once, not happening. And I get that gas costs money and people's time is valuable, but think about what it says to me when you say you don't have time to bring your kid any further than just a bit of the way from your house to volunteer? To me, that says you just don't care enough to volunteer. Those people are fosters for some rescue, not sure which one off the top of my head. They said they could foster for my rescue. But while my work is flexible, I'm not going to be bringing rabbits and cages and whatnot to work, for them to pick up, because they can't come out to the rescue. I can't push it with my work, and for fosters, they have to come here to pick up food and supplies as well -- I'm not about to start lugging food and hay and whatnot to work all the time because people won't come by the rescue. Fosters are supposed to make my life easier, not more difficult.
I have the rescue in my house. My house smells like small animals 24/7. Pretty much all my free time is devoted to fuzzy small animals. I'm doing my part. But no one else feels like doing anything.
And all of you that keep saying, oh you'll bring the cage and you'll bring everything with. I don't fucking care. Are you going to move in too? And help clean the cages and keep everyone fed and watered? Because if you're NOT, I don't have the TIME. I could fit about 50 more cages in my basement. But those animals would sit in filth because there's not enough hours in the day to keep everything clean, fed, watered. So it makes no difference that you're going to bring everything with the chin, because if I don't have time, I don't have time. I can't make myself 48-hour-days just cause they would be useful.
One more thing. I've had several animals returned lately because people have found them to be "too much work." I have, right now, four guinea pigs, 5 rabbits, something like 40 chinchillas, 2 prairie dogs, 2 dogs, and a pac man frog. And some plants. If I can do it all (while complaining, but still can do it all), I find it almost lazy to hear people say that that ONE rabbit has become too much work. You know what it makes me think? You simply no longer feel like cleaning the cage, making the effort to feed and water the animal, and so on and so forth. Because it's not that hard.
I'm done with this rant for today.
Not to mention, the person who was going to foster the rabbits, never got back to me about when would work for them to come by. So I messaged them the other day, asking if they still wanted to help. They said, oh yeah, and we set up a time, for today, between 10-11. Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's 11:43 now and they're still not here. Besides this being total and absolute bullshit, you know what I call this? An utter waste of time. For someone to say, oh, between 10-11ish works for them, I will make sure to be here between 9:30 and 11:30. Not that there's not stuff I can't do at home, but it almost never fails, the days I need to hang around here, waiting for people to show up (who never do show up), are days I need to be out and about doing things. And they never showed up, so certain errands never got done, and now I need to go to work. And still, those rabbits are here.
I find this very disappointing. I'd like to think, in general, people are good, people are helpful, people really do want to help. But then, no one shows up to volunteer, no one shows up to foster, people waste my time, no one returns my phone calls, when I call people back -- 90% of the time, the same day, they've already gotten an animal elsewhere cause they couldn't wait an hour for a return phone call -- remind me again why I'm doing this? And don't say "for the animals" cause they bite me make my asthma horrible and I really can't say I even like the animals all that much anymore. These people have ruined this for me.
Also, another thing that's going on that, probably because of all of the negativity currently going around, is rubbing me the wrong way. Who's seen the story of Freeway, the chinchilla that was thrown from a vehicle onto the freeway? If you're on facebook and in the chinchilla groups I'm in, you likely have. Well, they started a chip-in for him (or whatever they call it now, now that half those sites have closed down), and at the time I'm writing this, they've raised $512. http://www.youcaring.com/pet-expenses/freeway-s-fresh-start/248201 Don't get me wrong, I think that's great that people care and want to chip in. But let me ask you -- why is it that people will run to donate to a single chin that had a bad time at life, yet when actual rescues need help, no one lifts a finger or opens their pocketbook? When I posted about how horrible the rescue was doing, lack of sales, lack of adoptions, lack of time to do orders so people are backing out of them, one person -- ONE PERSON -- donated. And I thank that person, I really do. But if you look at that chip-in, that $512 wasn't one or two people, it was a lot of people donating a few bucks here and there. It's a lot of little donations that help. Unfortunately, we're getting almost none of those either.
Same with when I had my rescue at the Pet Supplies Plus. I'd talk to the people about how expensive it is to care for these critters, they wouldn't donate a freakin penny in my donation box, but then would go to the cat donation box and donate $20. Wtf? A lot of people that day even donated the change from their purchases.... to the cat or dog rescues. That change adds up. But we don't even get that.
We used to have multiple people purchasing food and supplies from here. Now, we routinely have two families that stop by for food and hay. And both do donate a little extra every time, which I greatly appreciate. But it doesn't make up for how it used to be when 20 families consistently purchased food and hay from here. I don't even get it -- it's CHEAPER to buy from here than to buy from the pet store, and most of these people are SUPER local, yet they go to the pet store and pay 3x the price to get the same item. When we had that many families consistently buying supplies, I didn't need as many donations. But now, when sales are pretty much nil, something has to pay for the critters.
But it still boggles my mind how everyone can bond together over one chin, and donate gobs of money for one chin, when chinchilla rescues are full of TONS of chins from bad situations. Maybe not the same situation, but bad situations nonetheless, and pretty much no one cares about those chins.
One person who wanted to help, well, their daughter wanted to help, said they couldn't bring their kid any further north than Crown Point. I hate to sound like an ass, but what good does that do me? They never adopted chins (and returned the rats they adopted anyway), so, no offense to them, but they wouldn't be any good to have at an adoption event at the PSP store, cause they have no idea about chin care... which is the basis of the rescue. Now, if I was going to bring rabbits to a chinchilla adoption event, I'm sure they'd do fine. But I typically bring chins, cause hello, this is a chin rescue. Other than an adoption event at the store, this is one of the people who said, oh, bring stuff by their house and they'll do it. Yes, because the prep time for me to do that is nothing. Nada. Oh wait, prep time to bring houses so they can sand them... prep time is at least 50%, and if I can barely keep cages clean, having houses made 50% of the way, multiple all at once, not happening. And I get that gas costs money and people's time is valuable, but think about what it says to me when you say you don't have time to bring your kid any further than just a bit of the way from your house to volunteer? To me, that says you just don't care enough to volunteer. Those people are fosters for some rescue, not sure which one off the top of my head. They said they could foster for my rescue. But while my work is flexible, I'm not going to be bringing rabbits and cages and whatnot to work, for them to pick up, because they can't come out to the rescue. I can't push it with my work, and for fosters, they have to come here to pick up food and supplies as well -- I'm not about to start lugging food and hay and whatnot to work all the time because people won't come by the rescue. Fosters are supposed to make my life easier, not more difficult.
I have the rescue in my house. My house smells like small animals 24/7. Pretty much all my free time is devoted to fuzzy small animals. I'm doing my part. But no one else feels like doing anything.
And all of you that keep saying, oh you'll bring the cage and you'll bring everything with. I don't fucking care. Are you going to move in too? And help clean the cages and keep everyone fed and watered? Because if you're NOT, I don't have the TIME. I could fit about 50 more cages in my basement. But those animals would sit in filth because there's not enough hours in the day to keep everything clean, fed, watered. So it makes no difference that you're going to bring everything with the chin, because if I don't have time, I don't have time. I can't make myself 48-hour-days just cause they would be useful.
One more thing. I've had several animals returned lately because people have found them to be "too much work." I have, right now, four guinea pigs, 5 rabbits, something like 40 chinchillas, 2 prairie dogs, 2 dogs, and a pac man frog. And some plants. If I can do it all (while complaining, but still can do it all), I find it almost lazy to hear people say that that ONE rabbit has become too much work. You know what it makes me think? You simply no longer feel like cleaning the cage, making the effort to feed and water the animal, and so on and so forth. Because it's not that hard.
I'm done with this rant for today.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
This weekend
So, this weekend was a chin
show. Got off work at 4ish Friday, came home, Kyle Lemler met me at the
house, I got my chins ready, and we went out to the show. Show was in
Barneveld, WI, and due to a Badgers home game, just about everyone had problems
finding hotels. So he was staying with one of the local chin breeders, so
I dropped him off at the show hall and went in search of our (Meredith,
Brandon, and my) hotel room which was in Mazomanie, WI. Found it, cute
little place. Got the chins settled, groomed the chins, and laid down.
Meredith and her husband arrived a
few hours later, came in, groomed their chins, and then we got up bright and
early for the show. Well, it would have been earlier, except either the
alarm didn't go off, or we all slept through it. Sounds about
right. So we get there, get all the paperwork done, and they ask Meredith
and I to help with classifying. So that was a new experience, which I
promptly made a mistake on and had to re-do part of. It went smoothly
after that.
New judge from Colorado, took his
sweet time with the chins. My pink white got a 3rd, due to loose fur and
something else, I have it written down. Said may be baby fur, hang onto
and show again, so he'll be shown again in December. The other chin I brought
with was a rescue chin from a local humane society, he got a 2nd. Funny
that, the rescue chin does better than a purposefully bred show chin.
We had lunch and dinner with the
chin people and at one point I had to move my blazer, which a few people know
has been having brake issues for awhile. Well, Bill Bonnier (a chin
person getting out of chin breeding) had been planning on looking at it, but
due to my money situation (or lack of money, rather) because of my job, I
hadn't been able to make it to his place with any money to pay him to look at
it. But he was there, and the grinding was enough for him to say, he
wanted to look at it before he left. So, he went outside and crawled
under the blazer and asked, "who worked on this?" Well, just
fyi, it was Munster Marathon, and they suck. I'm missing both hinge pins
on the caliper on the passenger rear brake. Bill said this was that they
put them in, super loose, and the bolts basically walked themselves out.
The grinding was that the caliper was rubbing against the rim, and literally
wearing it away. So he said it was unsafe to drive because the wheel
could lock up, blazer could flip, etc etc. Joy. So, he went and got
a metal coat hanger from inside and his tools from his vehicle -- which he said,
he had a feeling he should bring with (glad he did!!) -- and jerry rigged up
the brakes so that it wouldn't grind on the way home.
Next morning, went to the show call
to break down the show. They provided eggs, bacon, orange juice, and
coffee, so we had breakfast and then left. Meredith and her husband were
supposed to follow us home, in case something happened with the brakes, but
Meredith wasn't feeling well, so her husband drove, and they got so far behind
(and took a different road entirely) that had anything gone wrong, they
wouldn't have been in the spot to notice. But, luckily, nothing did go
wrong, and I got home fine.
Had a phone call, when I got home,
from someone wanting to ask questions about chins. I guess to
adopt. Called em back, they said, oh they already picked up two guinea
pigs. WTF?!?!?!? No one has any patience anymore. Give me a
day or so to call ya back before running off to get another animal or an animal
from someone else.
Oh, also, Gypsy (aka Evil) is no
longer with NWI. She went with Jim for research. Now, before you
all get up in arms about a chin going to research, think about this. What
happens to a dog that's aggressive and bites people? It's rehabbed, or if
it can't be rehabbed (for example, if it bites without provocation for
absolutely no reason), its put down. That was Gypsy. I couldn't
even grab a toy that fell in her cage, nowhere hear her, without her turning
into attach chin and lunging for my hand and repeatedly biting. That is
not a chin that should be reproducing, and that is not a chin anyone would ever
adopt. That's not even a chin that can safely be kept as a sanctuary
chin, just to live out its life, because you can't fill a food bowl without
being attacked. So, rather than put down and no use of her, she will
likely be used for ear research, where they will study her ears (as chinchillas
have the most similar hearing to humans) to better understand how to treat ear
conditions in humans. So, she will benefit society, despite her ways.
And I will stop getting bitten.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Killing me
You people are killing me right now. Absolutely killing me. Had one person who was wanting to adopt two chins and a rabbit. Sounded good, knew how far they were away. Then yesterday I get a text, oh they're not going to be able to make the drive, but they'll buy a few hammocks to make up for it. Just fyi, a $17 order of hammocks, most of which is taken up by the cost of materials and my time, does not make up for freeing up three cages. But that's beside the point -- the reason this person couldn't adopt is because they don't have a car and they needed someone else to drive them. They asked that person, could they get a ride? And that person said no.
Now, let me ask you. How difficult would it have been for that person to ask their friend, BEFORE contacting me, "hey, will you drive me to NWI?" Course, they waited until they told me they wanted to adopt three animals, had me send them all the care packets and adoption forms, had me send them all sorts of pics and talk to them for a few days via text, and THEN asked the friend, could they get a ride. Absolute waste of my time. Since I started this job, I have nowhere near the amount of time to spend with the rescue animals or to deal with this bullshit as I did before. And, to go with it, even less patience for shit like this.
Don't get me wrong, I know this is the world where people schedule appointments and cancel them 40 times, and that's why doctors offices have that thing where, if you cancel your appointment within 24 hours of the appointment, they charge you $25. Because it gets really old and it wastes their time. But we're talking about live animals here.
This is not my job. That would really be nice if someone wanted to donate enough money to the rescue that I could quit my job and do only the rescue for the rest of my life, but I don't think that's going to happen. This is just what I do after I come home from my 50-plus hour a week job. Which means, if I've spent several days talking to you, sending you pictures, etc etc, expect me to be a little peeved when all of a sudden, you can't make it.
Had another person who wanted to adopt, who found out they can't have animals in their apartment. Which is weird, cause they had a rabbit, and I guess went to tell the apartment, oh they were going to get a chin as well, and now the apartment was like, "wait, you can't have those." Which is a slightly different situation, because in this situation, this person had been told, previously, that they could have caged pets (but apparently, the employee of the apartment complex who told them that was wrong about that). But the end result is the same -- now, this person is finding someone to care for their rabbit, and not adopting the chin that's here.
Also in recent news, I had someone request a refund for their order, since I wasn't able to get it out fast enough to them. They didn't even give me a full 24-hour day between sending them email asking for the refund and opening a dispute with paypal. Funny thing about having a dispute open, is that, while it's open, you can't refund their money. So I contacted her, asked her to close the dispute so I could refund her money. Which she did, and I refunded it.
Again, that (above) comes back to, no volunteers, no time to do all these orders as quickly as people would like them.
Then I got an email wanting to adopt some chins. With just about everything on the app filled out "what they are used to." That's not an answer. Problem is, Mazuri isn't easily found in stores. So, unless this person is going to come back to the rescue to buy food for the life of the chins (which most people don't), they won't be able to feed "what the chins are used to." Same with the hay. Same with the dust. For the bedding, they just need to pick what works for them. The chins are used to fleece bedding, but I hate it, and the average person owning chins doesn't use fleece, and my recommendation isn't going to change most people's minds on that. Not to mention, these people put down that they don't have a cage and won't have one until they purchase them. Well, shit, they need a cage first. If I let all chins go to new homes without knowing the type of cage, half the adopters would put them in 10g aquariums. So they need to answer that question. For the question that asks, where are you going to keep the chins? They put, "in a room." No fucking shit. No, I thought they'd keep them in their car.
And you all wonder why I'm constantly crabby. Because for the last week, these people I just wrote about in this blog are the ONLY people I have dealt with regarding adoptions. Oh, and I have maybe 3 more emails sitting in my inbox that want to bring animal here. And it's not like one animal gets adopted and everything's all right. There's maybe one adoption for every 20 people like this. And that one happy moment doesn't make up for the 20 aggravating people. That is all.
Now, let me ask you. How difficult would it have been for that person to ask their friend, BEFORE contacting me, "hey, will you drive me to NWI?" Course, they waited until they told me they wanted to adopt three animals, had me send them all the care packets and adoption forms, had me send them all sorts of pics and talk to them for a few days via text, and THEN asked the friend, could they get a ride. Absolute waste of my time. Since I started this job, I have nowhere near the amount of time to spend with the rescue animals or to deal with this bullshit as I did before. And, to go with it, even less patience for shit like this.
Don't get me wrong, I know this is the world where people schedule appointments and cancel them 40 times, and that's why doctors offices have that thing where, if you cancel your appointment within 24 hours of the appointment, they charge you $25. Because it gets really old and it wastes their time. But we're talking about live animals here.
This is not my job. That would really be nice if someone wanted to donate enough money to the rescue that I could quit my job and do only the rescue for the rest of my life, but I don't think that's going to happen. This is just what I do after I come home from my 50-plus hour a week job. Which means, if I've spent several days talking to you, sending you pictures, etc etc, expect me to be a little peeved when all of a sudden, you can't make it.
Had another person who wanted to adopt, who found out they can't have animals in their apartment. Which is weird, cause they had a rabbit, and I guess went to tell the apartment, oh they were going to get a chin as well, and now the apartment was like, "wait, you can't have those." Which is a slightly different situation, because in this situation, this person had been told, previously, that they could have caged pets (but apparently, the employee of the apartment complex who told them that was wrong about that). But the end result is the same -- now, this person is finding someone to care for their rabbit, and not adopting the chin that's here.
Also in recent news, I had someone request a refund for their order, since I wasn't able to get it out fast enough to them. They didn't even give me a full 24-hour day between sending them email asking for the refund and opening a dispute with paypal. Funny thing about having a dispute open, is that, while it's open, you can't refund their money. So I contacted her, asked her to close the dispute so I could refund her money. Which she did, and I refunded it.
Again, that (above) comes back to, no volunteers, no time to do all these orders as quickly as people would like them.
Then I got an email wanting to adopt some chins. With just about everything on the app filled out "what they are used to." That's not an answer. Problem is, Mazuri isn't easily found in stores. So, unless this person is going to come back to the rescue to buy food for the life of the chins (which most people don't), they won't be able to feed "what the chins are used to." Same with the hay. Same with the dust. For the bedding, they just need to pick what works for them. The chins are used to fleece bedding, but I hate it, and the average person owning chins doesn't use fleece, and my recommendation isn't going to change most people's minds on that. Not to mention, these people put down that they don't have a cage and won't have one until they purchase them. Well, shit, they need a cage first. If I let all chins go to new homes without knowing the type of cage, half the adopters would put them in 10g aquariums. So they need to answer that question. For the question that asks, where are you going to keep the chins? They put, "in a room." No fucking shit. No, I thought they'd keep them in their car.
And you all wonder why I'm constantly crabby. Because for the last week, these people I just wrote about in this blog are the ONLY people I have dealt with regarding adoptions. Oh, and I have maybe 3 more emails sitting in my inbox that want to bring animal here. And it's not like one animal gets adopted and everything's all right. There's maybe one adoption for every 20 people like this. And that one happy moment doesn't make up for the 20 aggravating people. That is all.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Quick update
Just wanted to post a quick update. Lots of people have been commenting lately, when talking to me, oh its so nice that when you posted the status about how no one helps and you're overwhelmed... that everyone wanted to help. Let me clarify. No one, and I mean NO ONE has been here to pick up any animals to foster, and no one has been here to volunteer since posting that status. Which was 12 days ago. In almost two weeks, not one of those people could manage an hour or two, or time to come by and pick up a foster? My best friend since middle school sent me a donation for the rescue, after seeing the status. But that's it. No one else has moved a muscle towards helping. And this, exactly this, is what gets so old. Everyone says they want to help... but no one actually helps.
And I'm still way behind and everyone keeps emailing asking where their orders are. Sorry, no help, super slow orders. The animals are priority, and I'm not even able to clean the cages as often as I'd like, at the moment. Much less churn out orders.
And I'm still way behind and everyone keeps emailing asking where their orders are. Sorry, no help, super slow orders. The animals are priority, and I'm not even able to clean the cages as often as I'd like, at the moment. Much less churn out orders.
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