Dear Folks -
 
        Thought I would throw in my thoughts on the Mass hearing.  I was
encouraged, but I think Bill may have taken things a little too far.  Yes,
there were about 50 people there, but many bills were being heard - about
8-9 spoke in favor of the ferret bill, and no one against.  And I think the
one rep was joking about getting a ferret himself.  However, I do think the
bill will pass the committee with ease, primarily because of a) the show of
support; b) the ability of the people present to assuage any concerns they
had; c) the support of the MSPCA, who pointed out how many ferrets are
already in Mass (even though they greatly underestimated), and how
important it is to insure that they are vaccinated and propoerly cared for;
d) the withdrawal of previous objections of the New England Animal Relief
Effort based on now-answered concerns of having "wild" animals as pets, and
the lack of an approved rabies vaccine; e) the excellent testimony and
documentation brought by Dick and Joan Bossart (cheers! cheers!), and f)
the bright idea of bringing copies of "Your first ferret", a full color pet
guide, for committee members (they all looked through it and liked it!).
 
        If the concerns last year were that no one cared, these have been
answered - now lets hope it goes well from here.
 
        Two brief comments - a) For Scott Swain - Like all others, I shared
the grief over Toons - it must have been awful for you.  I hope you do get
another ferret soon, and let him/her help take your grief away.  b) For
Kari in Mass - I was hoping to meet you yesterday at the hearing to give
you congrats in person, but since I didn't - CONGRATS ON TUFTS!  It will be
great to have someone in the area who cares, understands, and can do
something to help!
 
Best - Mason, Slinky ("Whats all this fuss about raisins? Apples are where
its at!"), and Leila (the cat - "NO ONE SPOKE AGAINST?  Let me talk to them
- no really - just for a minute - they don't know...")
[Posted in FML issue 1143]