Dear Mr Goschka,
I am writing you from Tampa, Fla on behalf of Robert Jacobs from Saginaw.
Mr Jacobs is a ferret owner, and, on May 5, he took his fifteen pets to a
local mall at the request of his local Animal Control Officer, Karen Burns
to do a little ferret PR.  While there, an elderly gentleman was petting one
ferret, Kodo, and either bumped his hand on a table or grazed his hand on
the ferret's naturally protruding canine teeth.  In any event, the gentleman
bled a little, and mentioned the incident to his wife.
 
When Burns heard him tell his wife the story, she became agitated and
confiscated Kodo, threatening Mr Jacobs with confiscation of all of his
animals if he did not release Kodo.
 
(As you can see from the attached information, the gentleman felt harassed
by Burns, and therefore I prefer not to release his name without his
permission.)
 
Burns decided to kill the animal, despite years of studies which demonstrate
conclusively that a rabies-infected ferret will die within 3-5 days of
exposure.
 
This was Friday, May 5.  Today is Tuesday, May 9.  Kodo, to the best of our
knowledge, is still alive.  Therefore, he could not be rabid.  A day more of
quarantine will verify that.  Nonetheless, Burns is prevailing and Kodo is
to be executed this afternoon at 2:00 pm.
 
I am writing to ask for your assistance in stopping this miscarriage of
justice.  The attachments I am forwarding give further details regarding
Kodo's vaccination history, lack of exposure to potential rabies carriers,
Burns' behavior, guidelines from the Center for Disease Control, and Mr.
Jacobs' efforts to save his pet.  I (and the few thousand plus members of
the Ferret Mailing List) are not sentimental animal fanatics with no regard
for public health issues.  Of course, if the animal were rapid, precautions
must be taken.  However, if he were rapid, he would be dead by now anyway.
Executing him at this point would be (forgive me) overkill.
 
Please help us. I look forward to your prompt response to me, to
Bob Jacobs, and to the Ferret Mailing List.
Thank you for your assistance,
Paula Bryder
5514 Terrace Ct #3
Tampa, Fla, 33617
813-988-8314
[log in to unmask]
 
Robert Jacobs
517-777-4807 (home)
517-280-1195 cell phone
517-280-1210 cell # 2
517-895-1200 office
email - [log in to unmask]
 
FML: [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1926]