The deadline is very rapidly approaching for letters to the Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA.  There is a petition there
from Dr. Sandra Kudrak, the IFC, the AFA, and a number of other ferret
groups to improve the outdated standards which largely predate even the
first ferret veterinary text and are not ferret specific.
 
Because of the special needs of ferrets we are trying to get new
standards that have been designed by ferret vets to end such problems as
shipping too young, death by overheating or suffocation during shipping,
etc.
 
The deadline is Nov.  18th so letters are best sent this week and next,
including those from veterinarians and veterinary technicians -- when
possible on hospital stationary, please.
 
Four (4) copies must be sent in the envelope.
 
Docket No. 04-088-1
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238
 
You must include the Docket No. 04-088-1 on your letter!
 
There have even been letters of support from other nations speaking of
the health and behavioral reasons why they have older ages required for
shipment and sale than the below 8 week old ones encountered in pet
stores here.
 
To learn more, please, see:
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
and
http://www.ferret.org/news/2005-08-28-a.htm
and the current issue of "Ferrets" magazine.
 
There are sample letters at the first two locations, but feel free to
write your own.  If you have helped any of those underage kits your
description what you encountered will help ferrets, so will other pieces
of the puzzle: shipping conditions you have encountered, the conditions
of underage kits when they arrive at pet stores, vet care needed, ones
who didn't make it, etc.
 
So often vets, techs, shelters, club people, and those at pet stores talk
of how hard it was to save a ferret who was subjected to early shipping
under poor conditions.  This is our chance to change that, to end that
heartbreak all over the U.S.  This can be done; all it takes is a letter.
Be a hero.  Help improve conditions for ferrets all over the U.S.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
replacing
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5050]