I've been reading the various comments on the Ferrets USA editor's note
for some time.  I'd like to present my perspective (as someone who edits
a magazine about ferrets).  The editor of a magazine sets the tone of the
magazine.  Russ Case is both managing editor of Ferrets USA and Ferrets, so
his opinions are going to reach a lot of people.  The editor chooses the
words.  Everyone else who writes for a magazine has their words touched in
some way by an editor.  The editor basically answers to himself.  So what
does this editor say?
 
Russ Case felt that the appropriate example of ferrets was to be taken
from teething ferret kits pulled from a tub at one of the largest pet
trade shows in the country.  No mention of whether these kits were handled
properly, fed recently (I've been to many pet trade shows and seen a lot of
animals on display in poor housing without food or water), or just plain
frightened by the noise & commontion (these shows draw thousands of people
for several days).  This was his choice as an example to introduce ferrets:
 
"...I was not taken completely by surprise when the ferrets chomped on me."
"...I inspected the two dangling ferrets I was lifting up out of the tub,
still clenching my skin in their teeth."
 
 An untrained, hungry, teething, etc. baby ferret in a strange situation at
a pet show is hardly representative of what people who love ferrets are in
love with.
 
To illustrate my point, imagine this as an editor's note from a horse
magazine: "I don't know how to stand the odor of horses.  They just stink -
don't they bathe?  And whenever I go into a barn - wow!  - I just want to
fall over from the stench.  I hope I never have to live downwind from one
of those!" I doubt that horse lovers would tolerate or support a magazine
whose editor depicts horses like that.  Even though horses and barns have a
smell, it is not the sole component of why people are interested in horses.
 
Yet Russ Case seems fascinated by being bitten by ferret kits (as if the
opportunity to get bitten is the only reason people would want a ferret).
Looking at the people writing for him, one sees a large number of people
who are well known for their efforts to make the world a better place for
ferrets (many of whom are frequent FML posters as well).  One would think
that some of the love for ferrets that these people have would have rubbed
off on him - or at least he would realize that common ferret stereotype are
not true.
 
Melissa Durfee wrote:
>Ferrets communicate with their teeth much more than other companion
>animals and it's something people need to be aware of.
Check out any of the ferret web sites devoted to ferret legalization and
you will find all sorts of documentation of how much more frequently and
severely people are bitten by dogs.
 
Note: Ferrets are not treated like dogs.  Dogs are responsible for killing
and maiming a lot of people per year - yet hardly anyone ever suggests
making them illegal.  Based on the relative number of bites, I'd say that a
lot more people have happy well-trained ferrets than happy well-trained
dogs.  Yet ferrets have all sorts of problems because they "have a bad
reputation" - even without evidence to support such a statement.
 
If the editor of a ferret magazine isn't going to act as a ferret advocate,
then who is?  Russ Case wasn't forced to write what he did - he's the
editor - he wrote it BY CHOICE.  If you get upset that Ann Landers can't
say anything nice about ferrets, then you should be upset that an editor of
two ferret publications can't either.  Remember that if Ann Landers were
seeking more information on ferrets she could just as easily ask Russ Case
(or anyone else working at Fancy Publications) about them as she could ask
the CA Fish & Game.  What kind of answer would she receive from either?
 
It is interesting to note that the Jan/Feb issue of Ferrets contains an
apology to Jeanne Carley.  In her article in Ferrets USA they "edited" her
words "for clarity" to imply that she is a ferret owner.  For a magazine
based in California, you would hope they would have some sensitivity and a
sense of responsibility towards ferret legalization issues.  Instead Fancy
Publications seems intent on the opposite - perhaps we can look forward to
an educational article from the CA Fish and Game in a future issue?
Remember, Fancy Publications is the same company that purposely altered a
photo to depict a ferret hunting a chicken.
 
Jerry Jackowski wrote:
>It's funny, we get so offended when somebody even mentions the fact that
>ferrets are something less than perfect. And we get really fired up when
>they are classified as biters.
 
My ferrets are not biters that latch on to people's hands (ask anyone who
has met them).  I don't present to people that ferrets are biters that
latch on to people's hands.  I think it is the responsibility of our
magazine (Modern Ferret) to be pro-ferret and to help ferret owners take
better care of and have more fun with their ferrets.
 
I'm not saying that articles about nip training, litter training, rescue
rehabilitation, etc.  are bad - just that the representative ferret that
should be presented is the one that is trained, etc.  (that is, present the
role model).  Good owners working with their ferrets to have a happy
coexistence as companions - that is the goal.
 
The joy of ferrets is their unique spirit of fun and play and their
warm-snuggliness.  Representing ferret-kind with the actions of an
untrained, probably stressed-out kit is inaccurate.  Just as representing
human-kind with the actions of a toddler would be inaccurate.  A well
cared for ferret kit or human baby both wind up being a lot more fun,
interesting, capable, and better behaved as adults.  And that is what
editors of ferret magazines should be writing about.
 
- Eric
 
Modern Ferret Magazine - For ferret owners. By ferret owners.
Mary & Eric Shefferman & the fuzzies: Sabrina, Marshmallow,
Knuks, Trixie, Bosco da Gama, Balthazar, Cauliflower, and Koosh
http://www.modernferret.com
 
- - -
- Eric
 
Modern Ferret Magazine - For ferret owners. By ferret owners.
Mary & Eric Shefferman & the fuzzies: Sabrina, Marshmallow,
Knuks, Trixie, Bosco da Gama, Balthazar, Cauliflower, and Koosh
http://www.modernferret.com
[Posted in FML issue 2515]