Be careful to be polite to the USDA and the officials there.  Thank them
for their willingness to look into these problems and to consider the
proposed ferret-specific, vet-designed solutions which are most fair to
the animals, the consumers, and others.
 
Attach a copy of the post which made you aware of the effort so that
they realize that this support is for improvements for the conditions of
ferrets in those areas which are under USDA control (those who breed for
wholesale -- almost always farms, their distributors, and the transport
they use.
 
The USDA does NOT control standards for small breeders who sell
privately, ferret shelters, etc.  What they set standards for is quite
limited in regard to ferrets, but they are EXACTLY the right place for
improving farm conditions, making distribution safer, and preventing
transportation deaths like those ferrets in that airport last year.
 
These officials are people who can be of great help to us; realize that
as you write and treat them with the respect which shows that you
appreciate their help.
 
WE CAN DO THIS!  Now that the core team has interacted with the USDA and
worked up the proposal this step is required: that we convince the higher
ups in the USDA that the public WANTS better conditions for ferrets.
Unless they are convinced the proposal will just sit there and never be
reviewed, so lots of polite letters are important.  After they are
convinced then the long process of going through the 17 page proposal
point by point will start, but first they have know that we really want
this.
 
E-mail is good, a phone call is good.  A snail mail letter tends to be
best.
 
If you happen to have any ferret cards send one of those along, too,
with a brief thank you for looking into changing regulations to better
meet the specific needs of ferrets message inside.
 
A pile of mail and tons of cute ferret pictures are hard to ignore, so
are personal notes about having encountered ferrets who have suffered due
to being shipped too early, due to being ill or hungry or unable to eat
kibble, due to not being socialized, etc.  If you are a shelter and have
had to take in such animals let them know.
 
If you host a ferret event also get a signature (and preferably also
address, phone number, or e-mail address) of everyone there and send
those along.
 
The announcement of this work can be found by sending a mail to
[log in to unmask]  with the message SEND FERRET 4456 to get
Friday's FML.
 
or  by going to
 
http://www.smartgroups.com/message/readmessage.cfm?
gid=1423922&messageid=8307&startid=8311
[Posted in FML issue 4457]