>From:    Alicia K Drakiotes <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: It's the source of misunderstanding
 
We have the whole picture.  The Baltimore Sun is a local paper to us - we
were in Baltimore yesterday.  There is more prejudice against ferret owners
than against ferrets which is actually somewhat understandable given the
overreactions to obvious satire.  Those that can't recognize satire can't be
helped.  New Hampshire is no more conservative than Virginia.  You have
Sununu we have Oliver North.  We live in an area where ferrets are hated -
remember the Jennifer Au case?  The court system literally cringes when a
case involving ferrets comes along.
 
>Not as satire, but in the community living section.
 
Where is Kevin Cowherd's article usually run?  Where would Dave Barry's
column be run?  I don't expect this paper has a satire section.
 
>I am going too far... but you are not getting the calls on a daily basis to
>shelter the ferrets now, are you?
 
As you said we have more ferrets in this area.  That means we should have
MORE calls than you do in your area where they are not as common.  Since you
questioned indirectly our methods... Vickie McKimmey's shelter does the lion
share of the shelter work in Northern Virginia.  There are a lot of
"shelters" in theis area that never take in ferrets.  We at least have a
reason.
 
I guess you need to know the truth since you seem to read incorrect
inferences.  We usually do not bother to detail our lives.  We prefer to do
things to talking about them.
 
The shelter shut because we were under attack by the county zoning
commission.  The person at the commission decided to "change" the code just
because he didn't like us.  Sent us a formal letter stating we were in
violation of county code.  Only he cited the wrong number (on purpose we
suspect) and changed the wording.  The code number he cited was actually
about having an outbuilding too close to the main house.  The code he
modified states that no more than four adult dogs are permitted without a
kennel permit.  He changed it to state ferrets.  An inspection had shown our
ferrets were clean and not smelly.  They had to make something up.
 
He did not seem to think we were intelligent enough to actually go to the
county building and read the code for ourselves.  We called our county
supervisor (Mary Hill) and were pleasantly surprised to find that she owned
a ferret!  She called the county attorney who then "fried" the zoning dude.
This occured at Christmas time.  Our holiday was ruined by this incident.
 
We've decided to leave the county because they have a reputation for not
exactly obeying the law and for not giving up even when they lose.  We don't
want to wait for their next attack.  With them watching us we had to shut
down.
 
Now that we are partially moved we expect to take in over twenty though in
the next week in a lump.
 
Does this change your understanding?
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1988]