Hello all,

As of now, the annual Ferrets USA magazine has been suspended,
indefinitely. Critters magazine is also ... gone. Our beloved editor
and ferret community member, Marylou Zarbock has fought hard, along
with others at BowTie publishing, to get the Ferrets magazine online
web site back. Yes, Ferrets was gone as well. The issue, as always in
this world, is money.

The print industry has been hit hard, very hard in the last five years
due to the economic crisis that hit us all. It has suffered a double
whammy because the evolving readership preferences now lean towards
the Internet. If you notice, many magazines and newspapers have been
disappearing in recent years and the magazines in the book stores seem
to be collecting dust. The Ferrets magazine web site has had slower
traffic than needed for the budget to keep it up and running. And this
is where we can help.

I'm devastated to have lost the two magazines that used to sit next to
the cash registers at our local pet stores. It is my belief that these
magazines saved ferrets lives. I see people pick up the annuals and
browse them while waiting in line. How many have seen that valuable
information and then thought, "hmm, there's a lot more involved to
owning a ferret than I thought."?  Many times, people do not
purposefully hunt down books within the middle of a pet store and pay
the higher price for them during an already expensive impulse buy.
However, they DO pick up a magazine while waiting in line, and often
buy it. Each year, these magazines carry priceless information for a
very low price that many people otherwise would not have access to.

Now add to the fact, that in almost loosing the web site ... they
wouldn't even have that to refer to. This web site is invaluable for
newbies and casual owners. For every one of you, there are countless
Joe Blow's that own ferrets. Countless. For people more intrenched
in ferrets, Ferrets magazine is a tradition and serves as a common
resource for us all. Please, we just can't let it disappear without
trying our best to save it. And how we can do that is so very simple.
Just a click here and there helps. Visit the web site regularly. Sign
up for the monthly newsletter, because that will serve as a great
reminder. Just as importantly is sharing. Use that share button when
you like an article!!!! Share it via FB, Twitter, email, whatever
applies to you. And do it "often". Spread the news about the wonderful
web site where we can get cutting information from our top animal
experts and vets. Where we can read about what is important ... our
wonderful little fuzzies.

Go check it out. Give it a few clicks. And if you can stick around to
read about the Weezle Wings Ferret Sanctuary, how to make a ferret mama
hammock, or the fascinating article from Dr. Jerry Murray regarding
ferret skin health and tumors. Check out this weeks Ferret Wish, the
latest cartoon, follow Travis Livieri's black footed ferret blog, or
enter a contest. There is so much to do there if you dig in.

www.ferretsmagazine.com
or
http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/ferrets-magazine/default.aspx

Wolfy
(Rebecca Stout)

ps, cross post and share as much as you can

[Posted in FML 7491]