This is in response to the note in the July 30/Aug 1 FML entitled "The
HORRORS of Tribessen."  We would first of all like to express our sincerest
sympathies to the family of Halie.
However, the note in yesterday's FML represents an overreactive attitude
that is inconsitent with the cause of ferrets.  Although it certainly may be
true that there is a connection between the death of this ferret and the
antibiotic used to treat it, it is by no means a certainty.  It is
hysterical reactions to such incidents that cause more harm to the
reputation of ferret owners then any good that will ever come from such
reactions.
 
If you truly want to help ferrets that may be allergic, then be proactive
about reporting such incidences (calmly) to the proper regulatory agencies
involved.  Drug companies that have adverse reactions reported to them are
required by law to report them to appropriate regulatory agencies and you
should encourage your vet to do the same.
 
To put Halie's case in perspective we should note that any drug may have
side effects.  When drugs are approved for use in humans or animals that
process involves a weighing of the positive (i.e.  curative) potential of
the substance versus its potential for harm.  Nearly all drugs have side
effects, some quite severe.  In the case of drugs that are intended to treat
severe life-threatening conditons (e.g.  AIDS, cancer) the level of side
effects tolerated to produce any positive effects is often quite high.  In
cases where the disease is almost always fatal, such risks are obviously
acceptable.  No drug can be judged based on one adverse reaction, no matter
how severe.  That is why regulatory agencies closely monitor adverse
reactions to drugs and other chemicals.
 
Implicit in the risk vs. benefit question in evaluating the safety of a drug
is the possibility that one particular genotype (of animal or human) may have
particular sensitivity to the drug.  In some cases, such sensitivity may be
severe and relatively common.  For example, hundreds of thousands of people
are allergic to penicillin, many risk anaphylactic shock and death if they
take this common antibiotic; however, noone has suggested banning penicillin
because it is a drug that has in fact saved millions of lives.  This does not
lessen or cheapen the life of those persons that have been lost to reactions,
such occurences are always tragic and should always be avoided whenever
possible.  If you attack a drug product, you should also consider what good
it may do for the animals/people you care about dearly.  If only one cure
exists for the disease, it might be worth the risk, and by condemning it on
the basis of one bad incident, you may be condemning dozens, hundreds, or
even thousands of animals to an untimely end.
 
Additionally, the attitude that anecdotal information such as Halie's story
is credible enough to ban a product is inconsistent with the history of the
movement to protect ferrets. The note "HORRERS of Tribessen" is no different
than the inflammatory rhetoric that organizations such as California Fish and
Game and the HSUS have used to try to perpetuate an illegal ban on ferrets.
 Ferret lovers should strive to refrain from the use of such propagandizing
scare tactics.  It just makes us look irrational and it brings us down to the
level of the idiots we have been fighting for so long.
 
-Kathleen and Mitch Cheeseman
Dancing Bottom Ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 1273]