LIFE rules stated that no ferret would be disqualified for biting,
however if the judge ws uncomfortable with the ferret, or was bitten,
they had the option of scoring by "visual inspection", meaning the owner
or handler had to hold the ferret while it was being judged.  Needless to
say the ferret would be marked low, and most owners would simply withdraw
the ferret if it got to that point.
 
Ms. Bachman's ferrets definitely had some nippiness, particularly the
kits.  However, this is more common than you might think.  Her ferrets
were always immaculate at shows, and you would never have guessed the
conditions they were being held in.  As an FYI, Rollen Mason's (the owner
of the NJ Christmas Rescue Ferrets) ferrets were the same way, and his
were sweet tempered as well.  In hindsight, yes, after 1998 perhaps more
should have bene done.  But that's past history.  Playing Monday morning
quarterback isn't going to help in this case.  Trust me, I'm not sticking
up For Ms. Bachman, I think her actions are among the most vile and
horrific that I've ever encountered, and my issues with her are deep
rooted from many years ago.  But we need to be proactive as a community
and move forward.
 
As far as shelters using funds for personal gain, yes, I'm quite sure
that in some cases this is the truth.  There are several people out there
who call themselves "shelters" but never have more than one, maybe two
ferrets at a time, and in at least two cases their "shelter ferrets" are
actually just their retired breeders.  :( Regretfully some of those
people are ones that have given shelters bad names.  If you have concerns
about how funds are being spent, then make the donation directly to SOS,
who will only pay vet bills directly or send supplies.  These ladies are
very careful about how they spend their money, and 99.9% of your donation
goes to shelters--their administrative costs are minimal, and the
officers pay most if not all of them out of their own pocket.  If you
don't want any of your donation to go to a specific shelter, then tell
the SOS ladies that.  They have always honored my requests for where my
donations have gone.
 
Anne
[Posted in FML issue 4231]