Hi,
 
To be honest, I have to agree that ferrets can bite 'unpredictably' in the
hands of children.  After all, young children generally can't --don't have
the ability--to recognize pre-nipping behavior and avoid it.
 
While there are lots of exceptions, families with kids under 10 generally
should not have ferrets unless the ferrets explicitly belong to the adults,
and the kids are monitored when they play with the ferrets.  (I believe
this mainly for the ferrets sake, as an exuberant 7-year old is likelier
to hurt a ferret than the other way around.)
 
The readers of Women's World tend to either be older (retired) or young
(toddlers at home).  Magazines for women (maybe for men, I don't know)
publish zillions of articles each year warning us about all the various
horrible things that MIGHT happen.  Cosmo readers hear about chlamydia and
date rape.  Parenting readers hear about kidnapping and Reyes syndrome.
Redbook readers hear about uterine cancer and telephone frauds.  The
younger readers of Women's World are an appropriate audience, from a
magazine's point of view, for horror stories about kids and exotic pets.
 
That doesn't mean, however, that inflammatory articles should be ignored,
especially given all the idiocy out there regarding ferrets.  I suggest
writing to the magazine and to the L.A. vet and pointing out some of the
important finer details, such as that ANY animal that isn't handled
properly can bite (how many pit bull stories have you heard?), and that
small children generally shouldn't be allowed to own pets (but should share
in caring for family "adult-owned and adult-claimed" pets).
 
Jacqueline
[Posted in FML issue 2583]