>From:    Melissa Litwicki <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: In which I talk with Pete Reid of MF
 
Excellent work!
 
>Q: tracking in general
>A: MF really, really, really wants to devise a method of tracking their
>ferrets.  If we can come up with anything cheap and effective, we're to let
>him know.
 
Seems to me that this is what we've started working on so lets keep going...
 
Did he give the impression he would talk with the "technical folks about the
alternative tattooing?
 
Just thought of something - can me make something out of it...
People don't want to see the tattoos on their pets.  Adrenal tumors lead to
alopecia.  Can a tattoo be put underneath the fur?  You wouldn't see it very
often on the happy bouncing fun loving ferrets going amuck that we love
dearly.  But when ill we still love them so dearly that we would be happy to
have anything to help them.  Vets could peer under or "shave" enough hair to
see a marking that couldn't normally be seen.  Ferrets get shaved for
surgeries anyway...
 
But I guess from this post that you didn't dismiss everything he said as
lies means you've come over to the "dark side"  <grin>
 
>From:    "Ilena E. Ayala" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF statistics
>Some of you shelter folks correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that ferrets
>which are brought to shelters have a higher incidence of medical problems
>than the overall population.  Isn't that sometimes why they are brought in,
>because the owner can't handle the $?
 
Yes.  And there is a belief that stress causes medical problems to surface
and for a ferret going into a noisy crowded shelter whether its a better
life or not has got to be as stressful as it gets.  Stress can come from
good things for people too - getting married, Christmas etc.
 
>From:    Rochelle Newman <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF statistics
>Trying to evoke an emotional response based on faulty statistics does not
>get us any closer to solving the real problem, and by focusing entirely on
>MF, we're ignoring a lot of the other possible causes for this disease.
 
Well stated.  Better than I've succeeded at so far.  This is the real issue
plainly.
 
>From:    swamp <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: CA, MF, ferret activism
>>From:    "Todd P. Cromwell III" <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: California Senate; Tyson Bite
>>It amazes me that we're wrangling about Marshall Farms, yet today may be the
>>last day we have to get letters mailed in time to affect members of the
>>California State Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee.
 
>I know the feeling.  Seems like we've taken a back seat lately, doesn't it?
 
We understand your frustrations.  Most people outside of California don't
know how to relate to your problems.  The adrenal cancers are a problem
everywhere.  Unfortunately the trash talk about MF helps neither you in
California with legalization issues nor everyone (including you
Californians) come closer to solving either problem.
 
But just as its distracting from California legalization its distracting
from the efforts in Washington DC.  There is a meeting coming up for the
group heading this up but the folks too worried about "divisions" withon the
ferret community about these issues won't help just because they disagree on
a completely different topic.  Its a shame.
 
>In general, it's been my observation that ferret activists are
>self-destructive.  They seem to have an uncanny ability to step on toes, and
>they unfailingly use their ability on the people that can help them the
>most... Drs. Jenkins, Hunter, and Bell, to name a few.  Then, when they're
>done with the establishment they turn on each other, splintering a
>potentially strong lobby into less effective parts.
 
Very well said.  We ferret owners do not have to agree, but we should
disagree nicely.  There is absolutely zero likeihood of ferret owners
agreeing on almost anything.  Owning a ferret is basically a sign of
independance and unconventionality.  Why should we all be unconventional the
same way?
 
There is no consensus among the veterinarians about these issues so why
should there be among the non-vets.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1992]