Eric, and every one on the list
 
Although I would love to do something to really ruin Mr. Kozak's life, I'm a
bit concerned about the idea of putting a picture of him on the net.
 
I work as an archivist for the Government of Ontario and I deal with issues
of personal privacy every day and have had the implications of releasing
informaiton about another individual drummed into my head.  If you posted a
picture on the internet and identified him, he may have legal grounds to sue
for slander, libel or whatever.  Please check with state laws etc.  before
attempting to do this.
 
The Humane Society here in Toronto keeps records on individuals who have
mistreated animals in the past and require that all potential parents
present photo ID.  What I would suggest is that all shelters adopt this
policy--no one gets an animal without first presenting ID and a security
check has been done.  Secondly, have we ever thought of putting together a
database of people like this which can be updated and sent over the net, say
monthly, to shelters etc.  Once again, the actually posting it on the web
would have to be investigated.
 
It seems that governments are doing very little to regulate the treatment of
ferrets.  Perhaps its time that we, as a group, got together and began to
regulate it ourselves.  There are things we should look at such as
conditions under which shelters allow prospective parents to handle fuzzies,
what kinds of security checks are done, etc.  etc.
 
This kind of endeavour is going to take time and energy on the part of a lot
of people.  But it's a question of saving lives which, as far as I'm
concerned, are just as valuable as my own.
 
I'd be interested to hear from anyone with thoughts or comments on any or
all of this.
 
Judith
[Posted in FML issue 1609]