Hindsight is 20/20
Good bye 2020. Hello 2021
It’s January 2021 and it appears we’re still seeing 2020 complications overflow and taint our novel year. The global pandemic situation hasn’t changed at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an update. Don’t hate me when I say, hindsight is 20/20. The year was a remarkable one and we’d like to share some thoughts and maybe a couple of rants.
The stay-at-home mandates gave people insight as to what it was like to be caged. We learned what it was like to have every decision dictated. We experienced what it was like to be controlled.
Surprisingly, it was a fantastic year for pets. Pet surrenders were very low. Animal adoptions were extraordinarily high. And quarantine snacks, toys and new cage layouts became things of great importance. Needless to say, we’ve been busy keeping up with everyone’s needs. I wish I could say the same for some of our suppliers and the USPS!
With regards to shipping, we’re hearing from folks who placed orders at the end of November and still haven’t received their boxes of goodies. Word is that 30 postal service workers in the Richmond hub walked out on the job over the holidays. As the majority of our boxes go through the Richmond hub, this has caused some displaced frustration. On business days, we ship out orders almost immediately upon payment receipt. We’ve begun to include tracking information with all orders and encourage y’all to contact USPS first with your concerns about late or missing deliveries.
In 2020 we had more adoptions than surrenders. Many chins who had been waiting since the year prior for “their people” finally went to new homes. For the first time since I can remember, we actually have a waiting list of folks who want to adopt. The wait list has been helpful for weeding out those who contact us on a whim (no pun intended).
Considering a certain percentage of those on the waiting list either fade away or do not meet our adoption requirements, our availability has been a limiting factor too. Operating the rescue and web store is a full time job. It entails answering emails, arranging and overseeing pair bonding and adoptions sessions, keeping supplies in stock, creating blog and social media posts (HAHAHAHA, I’m failing on that one…) and growing, tending and harvesting our natural resources. It’s not unusual for Whimsy to work from sunrise to sunset and beyond. For this reason, we do NOT offer evening hours and strongly defend weekends as time allotted for farm and family. I hope you understand.
Now that we’ve got that bit of housecleaning out of the way, lets focus on the fur babies, shall we?
Right before the year’s end we were called upon to retrieve 6 chinchillas from a multi-species hoarding situation. The one male is in great shape, but appears to not play well with others. A trio of girls came in fair condition where just one had some large fur mats that were carefully removed with a chinchilla grooming comb. But it’s the girl pair that broke my heart. They are thin, severely fur chewed, and stay huddled together tightly. It just goes to show that some chinchillas in the same situation can be resilient while others are more fragile. Our goal is to soothe the pair to the point where their fur is no longer their primary chew toy. The scary thing is, these chins seem so familiar… I wonder if they have been through Whimsy’s before.
Animal rescue is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of work, a lot of money, and a very thick skin. Fortunately, we have an awesome support system. Many of you are regulars who have been with us since the humble beginnings. Some of you are new chinchilla owners who are eager to learn. And of course, we have our very own groupies who seek to pirate Whimsy’s design ideas.
We are now going into our 13th year as Whimsy’s Menagerie. So, I guess we’re still doing something right. Thank you everyone who spreads the word about our website. We humbly hope to continue to serve and seek conscientiously to improve.