>From:    Sandi Ackerman <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Petco's in the Seattle area selling 3-4 week old babies
>Stick to facts
 
Okay.  A three or four week old kit has closed eyes and ears.  Eyes open
somewhere around week 5.  Ears start 'working' only a couple days before
that.  If these kits are 3-4 weeks old they will be blind and deaf.
 
They will just barely be able to think about eating solid food.  They will
want to nurse until 9 or more weeks old.
 
They will just barely be showing any sign of hair color.  They will be
either soft grey or white.  Maybe some signs of patterning but barely.
 
The big growth spurts normally start after the fifth week.  A sickly ferret
(or any animal) will not grow nearly as much as a well one.  Was the care
for the older animal proper?  You described thin while a kit will almost
always have a pot belly.
 
They will just be getting their deciduous teeth.  That is the only part of
your description that fits however.
 
Make sure you really are talking three or four week old kits.  You probably
aren't.  Mortality rate from trying to wean kits that young would be much
to high for any ranch or store to afford.  It would approach 100%.
 
>Local Petco managers and district managers keep their jobs only if they
>maintain or increase their bottom line, as directed by corporate.
 
Having all the ferret kits die on them won't lead to profitability.
 
>(By the way, doesn't "libel" only apply if it's not true?)
 
That ispart of a test for libel/slander.  There are several others.  I
would not be a part of publishing what you are saying in any media where
it might be seen as coming from me.  It seems much too unlikely and
implausible.
 
Try to get a ferret breeder that actually knows what a 3 to 4 week old kit
looks like to see one of these.  Your descriptions don't match what I'd
expect to hear.  Especially regarding tightly shut eyes - hard to miss
that one.
 
Too many 'false alarms' and we as ferret enthusiasts end up like the boy
who cried wolf.
 
>From:    Sawyer <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: HSUS and Ferrets in ETI training
>I hope that I am reading your post correctly, but while HSUS (Humane
>Society of the United States) is considered a moderate and respected animal
>welfare organization that has done well in promoting animal welfare/rights,
 
I agree with the rest of the post as usual but most that look into the
HSUS particularly in comparison with the other groups don't see the HSUS
as  "moderate".  They are much too lunatic fringe for many including us.
HSUS promotes extinction to solve pet care problems.
 
HSUS is animal rights not animal welfare.  They do not do anything to run
local shelters at all as you said.  They do pontificate and continually
seem to come up with new names and restrictions for those that actually do
run shelters.
 
But what Ms. McCoy is saying as I read it is that the HSUS sponsors the
show and that the attendees are those that run the local shelters.  The
HSUS is taking money from those that run the shelters in effect.
 
I'll still boycott anything to do with the HSUS.  Their 'statements' on
ferrets sound like nothing so much as lip service to increase donations
from ferret fanatics.
 
-bill
 
--
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2580]