re: The NBC Coverage of San Diego Ferret Freedom Walk
>It seems the news media is our worst enemy--did they HAVE to show the bite
>part???  I think not.
 
The media is not the Ferret Legalization effort's worst enemy at all.
Members of the legalization effort are their own worst enemy and this was
just a prime example of how foolish they can be.  This incident should never
have happened in the first place.  The person involved should have
maintained control of his ferret at all times.  Instead, he permitted a
situation to take place that was a recipe for disaster.
 
Every time there is a setback of this sort, ferret supporters cast around
for outsiders to blame.  The media is blamed for making an issue of the
incident, the legislature is blamed for not changing the law, and on and on.
They don't accept the blame for the mistakes they have made.  And so, they
have never learned to correct those mistakes.  In this case, the ferret
owner is the responsible party for the bad press coverage -- not the media.
He permitted events to leave his control.  No one else shares any blame at
all.  In future, DO NOT let strangers -- especially strangers with cameras
and media affiliation to have that close a contact with a ferret.  That was
the innocent mistake made in the Kodo incident -- and Kodo was an incident
where no blame can be attributed to the ferret care givers or the man
injured.  Did the ferret community learn nothing at all from Kodo's death?
The first time something bad happens, it's a mistake.  Let it happen again,
and it's an act of stupidity.
 
How many times have we heard the advice that when strangers ask to pet our
ferrets, present them with the ferret's back and keep the ferret's face
pointed towards you.  For goodness sake, that very advice has even appeared
here in the FML.  I take ferrets out in public all the time and never once
has there been an incident simply because I learned from others the best and
safest way to allow strangers to meet ferrets.  The rule is simple -- ferret
backside offered to stangers to pet and ferret's face towards the ferret
care giver.  Instead of observing the ferret safety rules, the person
involved ignored them all.  No, don't blame the media for this one -- blame
the ferret handler.  With such an important issue at stake, the ferret
handler should have taken even more than normal care to prevent any incident
from occurring.  He didn't and it should be no surprise that an unfortunate
incident occurred.
 
F. Scott Giarrocco
Jopal Ferret Haven
 
Maybe it's time the ferret community started learning from previous mistakes
and taking the responsibility for them to prevent future acts of stupidity.
[Posted in FML issue 2175]