We're pleased to announce we have reached a major milestone in the effort
to get the USDA and APHIS (Animal Plant Health Inspection Service) to
adopt ferret specific regulations under the Animal Welfare Act.
 
In March of 2004, several ferret organizations sent a petition to the
USDA requesting a revision in the requirements for housing and transport
for breeding farms, dealers and research institutions already under USDA
control.  The proposed changes would not apply to small breeders who sell
privately; rather they would apply only to farms who breed ferrets for
wholesale, their distributors, and the transport they use.
 
The USDA has accepted this petition, and has now requested public input.
They ask 3 main questions (condensed here):
 
1. Should specific standards be implemented for the welfare of domestic
ferrets?  If yes, please explain what standards you believe are needed.
 
2. What specific problems have dealers, exhibitors, or research
facilities had with the current handling, care, treatment, and
transportation standards and how would ferret-specific standards
eliminate them?
 
3. Should there be minimum age requirements for the transportation of
domestic ferrets, and, if so, what factors should be considered in
determining those requirements?
 
The deadline for responding is October 4, 2005.  You may respond via
mail, email or on the USDA web site (via EDOCKET).  It is URGENT that
the USDA get a strong response from the ferret community to move forward
with the development of new regulations!
 
For the full text of the request for input and how to respond, go to
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html
and click on Recent Documents.  Scroll down to Animal Welfare;
Standards for Ferrets, Docket No. 04-088-1.
 
The IFC will be hosting information on the our web site, including the
Notice of Petition and Request for Comments; sample letters to the USDA;
and the transcript of Dr. Sandra Kudrak's presentation at the 2005
International Ferret Symposium in St. Louis this spring.  Dr. Kudrak's
talk provides an excellent overview of the very complex multi-year
process of creating new regulations, of where we are in the process
and what is yet to be done.
 
It will be several days before the IFC web site is updated, so please
be patient.  But in the meantime, please think about what YOU will write
in your letter to the USDA, and how you will pass this urgent need to
the vets in your area and the other ferret groups that you are part of.
Input is needed from both individuals and organizations.
 
It was the wonderful efforts of members of the ferret community last
year urging the USDA to take action that got us this far.  Let's keep
up the good work!
 
Remember, October 4, 2005 is the deadline to submit your letters!  More
details will be posted later and on our web site in a few days.
 
Crossposting permitted and encouraged!
 
The International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 4964]