FYI - after a 40 minute conversation, I do not believe Rachel Lamb of HSUS (a
former PETA officer) approached our criticisms with an open mind.  I did
however, get her to admit A couple of factual inaccuracies in the HSUS
statement on ferrets.  Our letter to her follows.  Keep up the pressure on
HSUS until they soften their anti-ferret stand.
 
NYC FRIENDS OF FERRETS
P.O. Box 268 - Gracie Station
New York, NY 10028
(212) 876-0090
 
July 5, 1995
 
Ms. Rachel Lamb
The Humane Society of the U.S.
2100 L Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
 
Ms. Lamb:
 
    Thank you for taking the time to arrange the conference call between us
on Tuesday, June 27, 1995 which included your biologist Richard Farando and
legislative advisor Amy Church, for the purpose of discussing the HSUS'
public policy statements regarding pet ferrets.  You stated that the HSUS is
not anti-ferret, and that the purpose of our conversation was to address the
criticisms we have recently written you and Paul Irwin in response to your
statements on the CBS This Morning program and the written HSUS position on
pet ferrets which you co-authored and is distributed by HSUS.
 
    While we do not see eye to eye on all aspects of pet ferret ownership, I
believe we do agree for the need to only disseminate accurate information to
the public.  In discussing the language of your revised statement of October
1992 on ferrets, we would like to summarize that we agreed on two of the
points we raised.
 
    In the section on Rabies, the HSUS statement that "...public health
officials recommend that any ferrets who bites should be euthanized and
analyzed for rabies" does not accurately reflect the entire public health
community as there are many jurisdictions, including the State of New
Hampshire, which have adopted an observation period in post-bite management.
 The inclusion of the language, "...many public health officials may
recommend..." would responsibly characterize the true status of this
situation.
 
    In the section on Biting, the term "attack" was used twice without ever
defining what constitutes an attack, nor distinguishing the bite statistics
which may record a defensive bite and an unprovoked one as the same.
 Therefore, the term "attack" does not accurately reflect recorded bite
statistics and becomes a term which skews the statistical record with an
anti-ferret bias.  The term "bite" is the only term which truthfully reflects
the record and should be substituted for the term "attack."
 
    While you stated that an immediate revision of the October 1992 statement
was not being planned, we believe that given our agreement that the current
statement does not accurately reflect the truth on these two paragraphs, it
would be inappropriate and irresponsible to continue to distribute the
current language.  We urge you to revise it without delay.
 
 In closing, we are candidly alarmed that in the course of our conversation
you made the assertion that pet ownership is a "privilege and not a right."
 We doubt if Constitutional scholars would agree with you on that.  Pet
ownership is well established family tradition going back thousands of years
and crossing all national boundaries.  So long as healthy pets are treated
humanely by those who are their caretakers, we do not believe the government
has any right to interfere in any way.  Those who suggest that only cats and
dogs are suitable as pets and encourage governmental prohibitions on other
domestic animals clearly wish to trample on the rights of all Americans and
we will oppose such misguided activism vigorously in all forums.  To end
animal suffering, we believe in education, not legislation.
 
    We caution you against making the kind of statements which lower the
credibility of HSUS as an "unbiased" animal welfare organization,  We remain
at your disposal as a source of information on domestic ferrets, and we look
forward to a revised statement on pet ferrets without delay.
 
Very truly yours,
Gary Kaskel
Co-founder, NYC Friends of Ferrets
 
Enclosure
cc:  Paul Irwin
     American Ferret Association
     California Domestic Ferret Association
     Ferret Unity & Registration Organization
     Shelters That Adopt & Rescue Ferrets
     League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts
     Big Apple Ferrets
     United Ferret Organization
     Ferret Fanciers Club (Pittsburgh)
     Ferret Association of Connecticut
     Georgia Domestic Ferret Association
     Domestic European Ferret Fanciers &
        Breeders Association of Minnesota
     Loudon Area Ferret Fanciers
[Posted in FML issue 1247]