I love to debate and since this has been a popular yet controversial
subject, I figured I'd out my two cents in.  Though we all know that the
ferret's appearance is pretty uniform throughout the world, this is not
true for all animals.  Some animals, like domestic cats and dogs, can
look different based on where they where bred and/or originated from.
For example, a dog used for duck hunting will likely have webbed toes,
whereas a herding dog may not.  Cats from mountainous areas tend to have
thicker and longer fur than say those from Egypt.  So, is it really that
offensive for someone to make a joke about a slant-eyed ferret from Japan
when other "Oriental" animals have slant eyes?  Here are some examples:
 
Cats: Siamese, Balinese, Colorpoint Shorthair, Japanese Bobtail, Oriental
 
Dogs: Chow Chow, Shiba Inu, Chinese Shar Pei, Japanese Chin, Akita,
Chinese Crested, Pekingese, Shih Tzu, Pug
 
So, just thought I'd put that out there.
[Posted in FML issue 4672]