Hi all.  Long time since I've posted!  We have been busy redoing the ferret
room--wallpaper, paint, a ceiling fan to keep them cooler, new tiles to
replace the ones they dug up and dragged off...
 
We also have rearranged some of the furniture in the house, and in doing
so, you guessed it!  We found lots of little (dried up brown) presents and
hidden treasures.  I am afraid of what we will find when we actually move!
 
I attended the NYC Health Board hearing.  Not one person was there who was
in favor of the proposed regulation.  I would like to suggest that anyone
in NYC who owns a ferret, would like to own a ferret or anyone you can pay,
bribe or blackmail to say so should write the Honorable Mayor Rudy Guiliani
and voice your opinion that the proposed regulations are ludicrous, based
on misinformation, and a violation of the city charter.  Also mention
that you have serious issues with the Boards legal right to enact such
regulations, and that the proposed regulations are seriously flawed in
that they do not allow for due process.  (I love the term due process!) Be
polite, succinct, and stick to FACT.  Do not tell him cute ferret tales
or rant and rave about California or any other socialist state.  Keep your
letter to about 500 words or less.  Apparantly the Board of Health has
issues with ferrets biting and being unstable animals.  Use FACT and tell
hizzoner that dogs and cats are proportionately far more likely to bite,
a greater rabies risk and they are classified in the same catagory of
DOMESTIC COMPANION ANIMALS by CDC, HSUS, SPCA, and New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation (their F&G).  Rudy loves to feel
in control, and loves to butt heads with the various boards in town.  This
might get his attention, especially if he gets enough mail.  Also, to
really get his attention, send your letter FedEx or Airborne.  Tests prove
that mail sent this way gets read.
 
Hope every has a healthy and happy summer, and may ferret math strike!
 
Anne Ryan
[Posted in FML issue 2701]