Beth,
 
I don't know what the situation is there, with regards to the soy milk issue,
but in the town I live in, it's a hot topic.  Several animal breeders and
(human) doctors have found that soy extracts can be detrimental to our
health.  Although it's lower in fats, which is why it sells so well, it seems
to affect the people/animals consuming it.
 
For example (the one that comes to mind most quickly at midnight), there are
bird breeders here who refuse to use foods with soy in them.  They found
that the birds health deteriorated, they bred less often, and when they did
breed, the shells were thin, and few of the babies survived.  Within a year
of changing the birds' diet (removing the soy), the breeding averages had
risen tenfold, and more young were surviving to fledge.  These breeders have
spent considerable time and effort checking out this issue, and they've
found that it can affect humans in a similar manner.  To affect people, who
are much larger than fuzzies, I believe soy must have some ingredient which
is bad.  I don't know what they're like where you are, but the Health
Department here refuses to look at any study which looks like denouncing soy
products.
 
Whether this product affects ferrets in the same way it seems to be
affecting parrots and people, I cannot say.  However, I personally wouldn't
use it, and I wouldn't feed it to my fuzzies, on the off-chance that there
could be a problem.  Maybe some others out there will know of studies or
experiences that may suggest whether this product affects ferrets or not.
 
Also, importing ferrets into Australia.  I can't see you being permitted to
bring a ferret into Australia from the States, with it's rabies-status.
However, a permit for bringing a fuzzy in from the UK should be possible.
I live in New Zealand, and I'm looking at bringing in a boy from either
Australia or Britain (both being rabies-free, and thus permittable).  I
approached the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), who are in
charge of such permits in New Zealand.  Essentially, if you've got to get a
permit for anything animal related in New Zealand, you'll need to get it
from MAF.  I believe there's a similar institution in Australia, (sorry - I
don't know the name) in which case you should approach them.  Essentially,
I rang them, told them I'm looking at bringing in a ferret from the UK or
Australia, and within a few days, a pile of information had arrived in my
mailbox, along with an application for a permit.  Here it costs over $200
for the permit, knowing beaurocracy, it's probably similar there.
 
Roger McMillan wrote about the inconsistency in the Beastmaster films... I
haven't seen the third (didn't know there was one until yesterday), but I
*can* comment on the second.  From what I understood, the two ferrets in
Beastmaster 2 were the two kits that were born at the end of the first
movie.  Hearing the names given to the animals in the first movie, I'd well
understand the inability to come up with new ones.  You're right, there's
little to no imagination in the names (Todo (dog that died early in #1,
Podo and Codo...)
 
Sam
[Posted in FML issue 1906]