While we can't say that 2005 was particularly exciting or eventful, it was still exactly what we hoped it would be. After 2004 being such a growth year for us, we were hoping for something a little more stable so we could figure out how well our procedures were working before we started another growth spurt.

On one hand the year turned out to be more challenging: Our litter wasn't donated and we ran out of medical supplies that we'd been given or had stocked up on. Our processes were also tested when our first child was born; we had no idea what our shelter would turn into then! So.. We didn't have as much time to do as much advertising and outreach as we'd hoped so our adoptions basically stayed level. To top it all off, although we had fewer ferrets come into the shelter as last year our veterinary fees jumped quite a bit because this year one in four needed surgery!

Despite all this, an interesting thing happened: For every extra dollar that we needed to spend, two new dollars came in! The shelter didn't even seem phased by our new son; everything that needed to be done was taken care of, and we had a nice lull in phone calls when he was born. Best of all, once again all our friends stepped in to take care of the shelter and our many other pets when we wanted to leave town a few times this year to keep our sanity.

What are some of the 'possibilities' for 2006? We'd certainly like to beef up the education function of the shelter. We need to do more thinking about that... More specifically, we're helping a great foster home of ours incubate its way into becoming a shelter by starting out as a branch of our shelter. Watch for more info on the Quad City Ferret Rescue! We've also decided that without reducing our adoption fees we'll still able to afford to microchip every ferret that comes through the shelter!

Even without more ferrets coming in annually, the shelter is still growing in terms of its demand for space. We're starting 2006 by moving the shelter into a new room that's about 3 times larger. Since the ferrets tend to show up at the shelter in waves, we'll now have plenty of room to handle the swells. We're also planning on putting a table and computer terminal and a printer/scanner/copier up there. Then adoptions, medical procedures, record keeping, and supply storage can be done in the same room. The strange things that make an adult giddy.. ;P

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