>Subject: zen: bill's opinions on the AFA and the abuse incident
 
We have been reluctant to enter into this discussion due to some other
issues we have with certain officers of the AFA.  They are not directly
related to this incident from the most recent show but they are a part of a
continuing pattern including how this incident was handled.  We will end up
discussing several points without directly citing where they were brought
up.  We were not at the NJ show and did not personally witness this
incident and did not feel it appropriate to discuss the incident only based
on second hand knowledge.  But Ms. McKimmey and others have expanded the
discussion including similar incidents and histories we are familiar with.
 
>From:    Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: AFA letter
 
Unfortunately that is the way the AFA has operated since Vickie McKimmey
took over as president.  Bill was removed from the judge's program because
Bill disagreed on some issues with Ms. McKimmey.  Actually we have not been
told why Bill was removed, but Ms. McKimmey had been threatening to yank
Bill's license for several months and we have been told it was because we
were not 100% behind Ms. McKimmey.
 
This alleged abuser at the recent NJ show we have learned is in fact one of
the senior judges with the AFA and apparently one of those involved with
pulling Bill's license.  The person involved in the earlier incident at the
Warm Fuzzy show that was mentioned indeed Vickie McKimmey.  Bill was the
person who identified Ms. McKimmey for the other witnesses when they asked
me who she was.
 
We were witnesses to some of her actions and now that Bill is not under
her control we can openly say that we think what she did at that time was
definitely wrong.  There was no mistake in identity.  Ms. McKimmey referred
to one witness who was intimidated into not confirming the identitication.
 
Ms. McKimmey's statment about the reputation of the alleged abuser in the
NJ incident is subjective.  It is not universally agreed that she has such
a good reputation.
 
The treatment given the ferret sounds very much like the manner with which
one other officer of the AFA disciplines her ferrets.  She has termed it
"behavior modification".
 
In our opinion, portions of the AFA has greatly declined.  But Lori Barber
is indeed doing a great job with the AFR as Sukie pointed out.  But the
shows have gone downhill.  The GCFA, for example, has unamimously voted not
to use the AFA anymore to sanction their long running show, over incidents
where several judges behaved badly.  They have instead opted to use judges
removed from the AFA program.  More details forth coming in the future.
 
Another example to more clearly understand how Ms. McKimmey and her
associates operate is the handling of the recent ADV cases.  If anyone
saw the posts from their 'secret' ADV list you will better understand the
mentality of this group.  Several of the messages were put onto the
newsgroup news:alt.pets.ferrets and should still be available on Deja.
http://www.deja.com
They were discussing doing violent and illegal acts to folks that they did
not like.  Their explanation was that they were kidding about the threats
but other members of that list have explicitily stated that they did not
see it as anything but purely serious.  We became aware of all of this
because some members of the list were so frightened they asked us for help.
 
By accepting the role of show sanctioner and show sponsor the AFA did
indeed get "hired" by themselves and are indeed responsible for maintaining
order.  By having "banned" certain vendors and exhibitors the AFA has de
facto endorsed all those that they do allow to attend.
 
>From:    Debi & David Christy <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: AFA
>The way to overthrow a government is from within.  If you are proud of your
>right to vote, use it.  Join the AFA.  Insist on policy statements you can
>live with.  Vote in a president who doesn't get irritated by flaming
>emailers.
 
Unfortunately members of the AFA have NO voting privledges.  Only the board
itself has any votes.  Members can nominate people to be officers but those
are not counted as votes.  There is no working from within to change the
AFA.  Bill's loss of my AFA judge's license seems to be entirely because we
dared to disagree with the leaders.  We have longed asked the AFA board to
open up voting.  We do feel it is necessary to make the officers
responsible to the members.
 
Sending email to [log in to unmask] may or may not reach all of the members of
the AFA Board.  Dr. Freddie Hoffman, Vice-President, is probably not aware
of all that is transpiring.  She is not very interested in the shows so
does not keep up with the details.  She is one of the AFA Board members for
whom we have great admiration.
 
As we stated in the beginning, we do not have a problem with the AFA in
general, only certain officers.  We strongly feel changes need to be made
in the AFA though so that the AFA can right their course and once again
"Promote-Protect-Provide".
 
diane and bill
--
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 3008]