|
Doreen (aka Dee Dee or Debbie) began volunteering for AFA in
late August 2002. We have her ferrets to thank!!! Here's
Doreen's story in her very own words. It was just too cute to
edit. Doreen is like this in real person too. She's the most
animated volunteer we have!
"I didn't know much about ferrets
when I got my first one in November 2001. In fact, I'd never
even met anyone who had one. But I soon fell in love with them
- obsessed if you asked my friends. I had to learn everything
I could about them, so I bought books, subscribed to Ferrets
Magazine, and looked up info on the internet (which required
trips to the library back then). Then, of course, I had to get
another ferret as soon as I realized I didn't have enough
energy to match my ferret's energy. Around that time I
discovered there was a ferret shelter close to my home. I
called and asked them about volunteering. The first thing
Norm from the GCFA asked me was, "What books do you have?"
I told him the two that I had and he said I needed to get
Ferrets for Dummies, so that's
what I did!
I read all about the author who
turned out to be Kim, Director of AFA. When I realized she
lived so close to me I couldn't believe it! I had to know
more, so off I went to the library to look up AFA's website.
I read all about volunteering and knew it was something I
wanted to do. I have always loved and admired all animals
(okay, except bugs), and wished I had gone to college to do
something with animals. Going to zoos always frustrated me.
I didn't want to be on 'this' side of the fence. I wanted to
be in the cages interacting with the animals and learning
about them. I wanted to be the woman I saw on TV who rescued
orphaned bear cubs and successfully returned them to the wild
when they were ready. I wanted to be the person who would follow
around a family of meerkats or lions or wild dogs or whatever
and do a documentary or write for National Geographic.
Volunteering at AFA was the next best thing and much more
feasible. So, I called Kim to inquire about volunteering and
had to leave a message. Then I called again and left another
message. Then I called again and reacher her!! But she said
she was super busy and asked me to call back. Finally, I called
and she said to come over on Sunday." (Kim: Come on, Doreen, I
talked to you for almost an hour before saying you could come
over. hehehe)
The best part about volunteering for
AFA: "I look forward to going to AFA every Wed and Sun. There's
something therapeutic about it all. And I get to interact with
the animals inside their cages! It makes all the hard work well
worth it!"
The yucky part about volunteering:
"Scraping poop and carrying heavy buckets in the wintertime
outside in the freezing cold."
When asked what animals were her
favorites, Doreen replied, "It's hard to say because I really
like them all, even the poor mice. But especially (Kim,
laughing) Copper (prairie dog), Goliath (big cat), Ramsey
(serval), Sterling (silver fox), Lily (wallaby), Molasses
(kinkajou), Katie (silver fox), Marble (rabbit), Kodiak
(C.lynx), Gus (bobcat), Naudi (coatimundi), Ghost (silver fox),
and Mikey (raccoon)." (Kim: Thanks for clearing that up,
Doreen, and narrowing it down for the readers)
Doreen is 26 and married to her best
friend! She says she is "married with ferrets as children."
She CLAIMS to have the world's cutest ferrets named Jules and
Storm (aka Babi). She also has a 3 year old newt named Forest.
Doreen says AFA IS her hobby and even says, "finding AFA is
about the most exciting thing that's happened in my life for
a long time (except for finding and marrying my husband, of
course)." When she isn't scooping poop at home or at AFA, she
works as a receptionist at a day spa. In her spare time,
Doreen tries to learn as much about the animals as possible
including their scientific classifications, native habitats,
behaviors and diets. Doreen says, "I hope to continue to grow
in my knowledge of animals, and I think AFA helps me to do
this."
What AFA says about Doreen: We have
her ferrets to thank!!! Doreen is a breath of fresh air. She
is so enthusiastic and pleasant to be around. She brightens
up the whole place! In addition to having a genuine talent
for relaying her daily animal encounters with extensive
animation, she does so with incredible YEEEEEHAAAAAA! She will
have you in stitches with her accounts. And Doreen takes things
in stride as well. She has a tendancy to learn some things the
hard way, but she can laugh at herself and move on! She is
sensitive, reliable, trustworthy and fantastic with the
animals. Our goal for Doreen is to train her to do
educational programs! She has the right stuff!
|
