ok- i am VENTING here- this correspondence has occurred this am & i
am livid- what more should i do?? i put it up in order of events- i
took off identifying addresses so i dont get in trouble- any ideas-
thnx! Beth ( just fyi- i cross posted on AFA too)

first post was on a local freecycle list:

>Offer: small animal litter (poplar grove)
>Posted by: "Gena Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:03 pm (PST)
>My friend gave me two bags of litter. She thought it was rabbit food.
>I did too until I read the bag. This is called Eco-straw all natural
>litter. It is made of wheat straw that is turned into pellets. It
>looks just like rabbit food. She could not figure out why her ferrit
>would not eat it. LOL

 ------------ --------- --------- ---

  my reply:

>PLEASE tell me that your friend does not feed rabbit food to her
>ferret!!!! Ferrets are totally carnivorous and their diet has
>nothing in common with rabbits! Ferrets need extrememly high
>protein - higher than that of a kitten! a very high quality kitten
>food is the absolute least amount of protein they can live on!
>
>They need a good quality commercial ferret food - at least 35%
>protein!
>
> DO NOT FEED FERRETS RABBIT FOOD!!!
>
>If you have any questions at all about the care of any exotic pet
>please contact our volunteers!
>Beth
> www.crittercamp.biz
> [log in to unmask]
> 815-266-1342
  
Which is then denied by the moderator:
   
>   ug_freecycle wrote:
>
>Whoa ... first of all: CALM DOWN.
>
>Then, please respond to the poster directly, not to the group, and be
>sure to relax on the use of exclamation points and uppercase -- do you
>know that's considered "shouting" in emails?
>
>It may be that you are concerned for the animals, and even know quite
>a bit more about them than some people, but as a #1 rule, you still
>need to be courteous to your fellow _humans_.
>
>Thanks for understanding,
>Freecycle Moderator
  
my response to them:

>I did email the poster individually, however it seemed that this was
>such terrible misinformation that the list should know it as well. I
>am sorry if this came across as too much- If you have seen the
>condition of the animals- living creatures with the undisputed ability
>to feel pain - that have come across our doorstep you'd understand. To
>see these animals abused, mistreated, malnourished, it is horrific. A
>human baby eating dog poop would be better nourished than a ferret
>eating rabbit food- literally! A ferret has a very high metabloism -
>they have to eat approximately every three hours, and they have to eat
>high protein food then, or potentially irreversable damage is done to
>their system. So if this poor "ferrit" (sic) that they cannot even
>spell - is not eating quality food and then not eating anything
>because it wouldn't eat the litter for godssake it will be damaged for
>life. If that is not cause for alarm I do not know what is. Humans
>very often do not deserve the "courtesy" they get by simple virtue of
>their species.

Beth
www.crittercamp.biz 

[Posted in FML 5490]