Sheba sent me a list of some of the contributors and advertisers to
"Ferrets Usa".  What I'm going to write TO THE PUBLISHERS (with copies to
the advertisers) boils down to this:
 
1. I just can't buy or recommend their magazine while they mix so much bad
with the good.
 
2. The problems seem to trace back to bad editorial work on both the book
and "Ferrets Usa", and have been often mentioned my myself and many others
in complaint letters.
 
3. Most problems could be corrected by utilizing plain old common sense
(ex. not printing full addresses or full names of letter writers from FFZs
like California, and not mentioning that any article writers who live in
FFZs own ferrets), and enlisting the expertise of someone who actually
KNOWS and LIKES both ferrets and ferret people, either to review materials
for accuracy or to become the new editor of ferret publications.  Then it
would be possible to catch blatant errors such as mentioning cedar chips
for ferrets, advising a drastically wrong amount of Benedryl, and so on.
Also, it would be easy for such an individual to know that doctoring a
photo to make it appear that a ferret is hunting a chicken runs counter
to having the numbers of sales desired.  In today's world of e-mail an
accuracy checker would not at all need to be local so they could hire
someone who has provided them with factual, ferret-loving articles in the
past or even split the work among two or three such people.  Alternatively,
they could get an editor who actually knows something about ferrets and the
ferret community, since the reviewer approach has been mentioned before to
the editorial staff with serious mistakes and the bad publicity they
generate happening needlessly afterward.
 
4. It could be easily possible for them to create a magazine which actually
helps ferrets and their owners consistently just as "Modern Ferret" does,
but until they stop mixing in inaccurate articles with good ones, and until
they help protect ferret owners in FFZs they will never know much of their
sales potential since any owner who has had ferrets for a long time or read
a number of ferrets books will realize the lack of consistency in
information, and the danger in which they place some owners who must retain
their privacy.  That means that their magazine becomes -- quite simply -- a
bad investment.  There IS room out there for more than one good magazine;
the question is whether they really want to take the simple steps needed to
create a good magazine: an actual "Ferrets USA" instead of "Ferrets Usa
(User)".
 
5. We're going to cut back as many of our ferret supply purchases for a
while from anyone who advertises in their magazine unless those places send
us copies of new letters THEY are sending to the publisher saying that the
inconsistency in accuracy in this Fancy publication, and the endangering of
ferrets and owners in FFZs run counter to their desires in a ferret
publication and they hope that the publishers will either have checks done
by people who care about ferrets and ferret owners, or that they will
utilize an editor with this knowledge and concern.  The advertisers willing
to urge the magazine to improve will not have their sales from us cut back
or eliminated.  We aren't looking to cause harm; we're just upset that even
after many letters from many people advising how this magazine could help
ferrets and owners they instead continue to make mistakes so very often
when it would be possible for the existing staff to use experts and learn
enough to not make the errors, or to switch staff around to have someone
more willing to learn in the editorial position.  We already get
information from multiple sources; having one more would be just fine with
us, but we aren't about to sink our cash into such mercurial quality.
 
6. Recently, we needed to buy a cat magazine subscription for Steve's
parents, and a dog one for Aly, the niece on my side of the family.
Knowing the questionable variability in their ferret publications we
eliminated their dog and cat magazines from our choice list up front just
in case they echoed the errors found in the ferret ones.  How many people
have responded to such mistakes in the same way?
 
COULD SOMEONE, PLEASE, EITHER POST OR SEND ME THE NAMES OF THE PUBLISHERS,
AND THEIR ADDRESS since I can't find my old copy?
[Posted in FML issue 2630]