Howdy All:
 
        I just wanted to make a quick comment on the statement below.  I am
not in the medical field, but in other areas of research it is not uncommon
for researchers to submit letters (research articles, really) rebutting the
claims made by others on a topic.  Science is, after all, getting to the
bottom of the story.  This is particularly true when the findings being
reported are so blatantly incorrect or out of date that the article's
publication will mislead the readers.
        I am not sure if the Western Journal of Medicine is a peer reviewed
publication or not (I'm going to check to see if it is on campus later),
but I think that it would be appropriate in this circumstance to submit a
letter to the editor of the journal (yes, even scientific journals have
this option) that points out the inaccuracies of this article.  The letter
does not have to be long (maybe two pages), but should be crammed full of
the most recent and compelling scientific evidence supporting the ferrets'
cause.  This will serve two purposes.  First, it will show the publications
staff that you know what you are talking about.  Second, if it gets
published, it is a very large slap in the face of the authors of the first
article, since it reveals that they do not keep up to date on this issue,
and ultimately this could be used as a weapon in legal skirmishes.  Oh, and
third, this could then be cited as a pro-ferret reference.
        I suspect that Troy Lynn or somebody completely up on the current
literature could probably throw something together.  It also may be nice to
also include one or more of the DVM's that are contributors to the list as
coauthors of the letter (simply to make it more eye catching to the
editors).
 
Ciao - DAVE and "the girls"
 
THIS IS THE ORIGINAL STATEMENT:
>Check the references if you're reading letters to the editor or scientific
>articles on ferrets.  I saw an anti-ferret letter in the Western Journal of
>Medicine that cited, to back up their assertions of the vicious nature
>of ferrets, their own pamphlet (they work for the CA Dept. of Health
>Services - but self-citation isn't uncommon at all), a JAMA article on
>ferret attacks (which featured 3 cases of attacks on infants and some
>stats, but NO comparisons to dog attacks, etc.), and 2 books published in
>England in the mid-1800's!  Regarding the latter, I think ferrets have
>changed since then.  I haven't looked at the books (yet; the library
>here may or may not have copies), but they may be describing the European
>polecat, and not our dear pets at all.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0939]