Hi Stephanie and all,

I know that there was a ferret farm breeder in NZ who was importing
diseased kits all over the world, however, it is not the same person
MC mentioned. The woman MC referred to was a small private breeder,
and she was honestly unaware of the problem. When made aware, she shut
herself down. She was very upset to learn about the problem. She was
also a member of the FML for many years, and came to the US for a long
cross country visit one summer.

Now, as an addendum to what I said yesterday about Australia - while I
have no specific knowledge of whether or not there is any ADV there,
Dianne was certainly correct that many island countries (and states)
make it difficult to import animals into their country, because they
are free of certain diseases, and want to remain so. The UK, Australia,
and Hawaii are all rabies free (and probably free of other diseases as
well). As a result, they prohibit importation of some animals, and have
long quarantine periods for others. It is a practical practice for them
to do so.

Further, some of these island countries want to preserve their natural
wildlife. NZ put restrictions on ownership of ferrets because some of
the ferrets were getting loose, and were killing off there natural
wildlife. Much of NZ wildlife lived on the ground, including some of
their birds, and ferrets, weasels and polecats were killing them as
prey. Hawaii has a ban on ferrets and other animals for the very same
reason.
-- 
Danee
ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know!
For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com

[Posted in FML 7480]