>That was not a small percentage, and it was for a vet-access list that
>help everyone and had no reason for anyone to be exercising a grudge.
 
It was from the defunct vets list that began as the Mysterious Illnesses
list.  Because all questions had to be verified to avoid stepping on the
toes of any vets I wound up with veterinary directories and making loads
of phone calls.  There was no reason for anyone to fake things, but some
people did anyway, so false claims or false reports are very real dangers
for any internet surveys (which can be eve more prone to misuse);
therefore, I advised Danielle that she should try to verify all claims
with the treating vets.
 
>I don't see anything "preposterous" in the fact that their are numerous
>MF "fakes" running around the Pacific North West.  Unlike Danielle's
>experience, the PETCO stores we are in contact with are aware that there
>*may* be some problems with the source of their ferrets and seem not to
>care.
 
Or fake PVs (papers, no tat), or fake TFs (pink tats, papers?).  or fake
Hagans ("H" tats, papers?), or... (BTW: MF: ear dot tats, papers, and
hard to find toe dot tats.)  Heck, Sandi even ran into ones that someone
(backyard breeder?, distributor?, pet store?) may have given questionable
and unusual tats.  This happens also with other animals besides ferrets.
Disreputable places notice who does the advertising and which names are
best known, then they sometimes make up phony papers or put on their own
tattoos (more commonly they just say that a given farm is the source),
and so on.  That's why I figure that when reports of what was recommended
don't mesh with what others have encountered (like that one unusual report
about destroying a ferret) that the person reporting is not lying, but
that instead there possibly was either a misunderstanding, or perhaps
someone was dealing with a store or distributor with fakes from some
backyard breeder that could be bought for maybe half what they'd pay for
ones from the large farms.  As we all know, backyard breeders are the
puppy mill equivalent -- complete with in-breeding, poor nutrition, etc.
Of course, a person can instead buy from a private breeder who keeps
health and longevity records, or can really be a complete sweetie and get
a ferret from a shelter.  The shelter list is available from the FML, or
can be found in the files at the FHL (addy in my post of resources today
so look at the SOS list in the Files section).
 
Here is one way to tackle bad petstores and shoddy distributors that
fake sources.  Since they tend to use inferior sources get your state
legislator to pass a bill holding petstores responsible for covering the
veterinary costs of health defects for at least the first 6 months of a
major (ferret, dog, cat, large bird, etc.) companion animal's life, then
urge your governor to pass it!  They are trying to make a fast extra buck
by cheating folks in relation to these animal types, so make it cost them
through the nose instead!  Then they will have to go to more reputable
sources (private or farm) than the backyard breeders/puppy mills/kitten
mills/etc., or stop selling animals and sell only supplies if they have
a really bad track-record that can cost them.
[Posted in FML issue 3628]