people + money = strange

So, last Sunday, I went to a fundraiser get-together for the ferret shelter. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to bring along a little flyer about Fuzzball's plight and needed funds for the operation. I showed them to the Ferret Lady and asked her if there was a good place for me to put them out, and she said on the table. So, I put one on each table. The fundraiser would have been fun if I had had money to give away. They did a large number of raffles with ferret stuff as prizes.

Flash forward. Today I called the Ferret Lady to ask about some ferret lotion and she said that next time, I "should leave the flyers at home". She said that people were willing to pay for stuff for shelter ferrets, but not for personal ferrets. So, Fuzzball being a rescue, who was saved the experience of the shelter, apparently isn't deserving. It's interesting that a shelter is preferable to an individual when it comes to rescuing an animal from an abusive situation and trying to make it healthy! I could have just left Fuzzball where she was and picked out two young, healthy ferrets from a shelter. Somehow rescuing Fuzzball seemed like the more responsible and humane thing to do.

Of course, despite me having shown her the flyer before distributing them, the Ferret Lady said that she hadn't realized that they were soliciting funds. (Hint: The title was: Make Fuzzball Fuzzy Fund)

I guess the reaction really shouldn't have surprised me. We are a society that will donate to the needy through an organization, but we rarely give to individuals. We can give to the United Negro College Fund (not that I condemn this!), but we won't give money to the black kid panhandling to pay his way through school. Somehow, we prefer spending more for administrative costs so that we can funnel our funds through an organization. I suspect that if there were a "Save the Ferrets Fund", and Fuzzball were one of a number of beneficiaries, then these same people who were upset with me for mentioning that I need money would have happily donated as much as I might of asked of them (though I didn't approach anyone directly and certainly didn't make any stipulations about amount), and perhaps more.

So...I understand why people are this way, but of course it's still frustrating for me as the person now responsible for getting/keeping Fuzzball healthy! If I had taken her to a shelter, others would have pitched in through institutional fund raisers. But, because I brought her directly into a loving home, people don't feel any need to give, and are even opposed to doing so.