Darrin writes
>sorry but introducing defective genes just for the sake of "cuteness"
>bothers me... I myself would love to own a panda or silvermitt..  but
>not at the sake of the possibilities of genetic disabilities..
>
>do others have feeling on this ?
 
I strongly agree with you.
 
I owned a deaf cinnamon blaze, and while Buttons didn't seem to mind that
he was deaf, and was as wonderful a ferret as one can imagine, he did
have other issues related to his deafness.  Deliberately breeding for OR
promoting color patterns (blaze, panda, dark-eyed white) that are known
to have a high incidence of hearing problems and related neural crest
issues is, in my opinion, unconscionable.
 
One point: I don't believe there are similar issues with silver mitts.
 
The mitt and roaning (increasing white with age) patterns are controlled
by different genetics.
 
Linda Iroff
 
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
Register for the 2005 International Ferret Symposium(r) today!
[Posted in FML issue 4667]