Hi,
 
My name is Patrice and I have two ferrets who live with me at college.  Ever
since I have had my ferrets I have tried my best to educate and be educated
about ferrets.  One of my main "goals" is to actively work to bring down the
stereotypes about ferrets in order to impove thier public image.  As we all
know these stereotypes have been used to create fear in people and have
given a bad outlook to a wonderful pet.
 
7th Heaven, a show on the Warner Bros.  Network, aired a program which
included ferrets and only served to inflame the stereotypes about ferrets.
The show began with a guy selling two breeding ferrets to two kids who
wanted to make money.  He described them as a the ferrari of the RODENT
world who breed easily and can live in a shoe box with bread crumbs to eat.
Furthermore, when this guy showed the kids the ferrets the producers of the
show had dubbed in squeaking noises to make ferrets sound more like rodents.
As the show progressed the ferrets got loose in the kids home and the family
found a gnawed box of cereal which was mistaken as mice.  The whole show ran
along the lines of these "rodents" spreading havok and chewing though boxes
all the time make the unbelievable squeaking noises.  By the end of the show
ferrets had developed a reputation of being large rodents.
 
As if that were not enough, the show kept saying that the ferrets were
illegal.  I don't know if these characters lived in California or not but
they made it sound as if ferrets were illegal EVERYWHERE.
 
Many of us, including those in Calfornia, have worked hard to change how
people see ferrets.  The image 7th Heaven projected was inaccurate and
unfair to all ferret owners.  The worst part is that this image was
projected across national television.  Because of this I am asking anyone
out there to get a hold of Warner Bros.  network or 7th Heaven and complain
about this horrible distortion of fact.
 
I would appreciate your support,
Patrice Green (Chase and Latte, my ferrets(
[Posted in FML issue 1903]