Dear All,
 
Kim Fox wrote the following:
>My little rescue girl, Stacy, placed 5 out of 9 in Mitt/ Wannabe.  Go
>Stacey!!  The show was packed and all of the shelter kids that came to
>the show were adopted.  Yay!!
 
Sorry I late in responding, but I just got back from my Maryland vacation.
I was up visiting my sister in Maryland and we decided to drop in on the
Balitmore Ferret Club Show.  What a disaster; not only was the show hall
empty, but because of such a poor response of people showing, they
combined Speciality Classes like apples and oranges.  After not having
enough response to the classes, instead of cancelling the show that they
advertised and collected entry fees for, they combined the following for
judging:
 
Albino/Darkeyed White
 
Mitts/Wannabe - mitts are a very defined category - I give up, how were
they judged
 
Panda/Blaze
 
Sable/Black Sable ( since when doesn't a show have a full class of
Sables???)
 
Senior/Handicap - healthy seniors v handicaps?????
 
Marshall Farms had 12 entries
 
There were more moronic groupings
 
Obviously Ms. Fox and I were at two different shows.  Did you have a
shelter table for your own adoptables?  Do you have adoptables - how
many?  My sister is interested in adoption.
 
I visited the BFC Shelter Table and met a wonderful lady, Donna Block, The
BFC Shelter Director.  She was so excited that all of her babies, six, had
been adopted.  We all absolutely shared her joy.
 
There were other board members of the BFC at the shelter/raffle tables.  I
asked if the shelter ferrets were Aleutians Disease Virus tested and was
told, "NO".  The response was rather aggressive.  Beyond the "NO", I was
told that they had spoken to various vets in the Baltimore area and were
told that, "they don't know how ADV is spread and that the rumor of an
epidemic is way exaggerated".  Thus the BFC Shelter does not test, they do
require testing for show entry, and worst yet, not a table or a handout
about ADV.  I attended a post-show party and shared this information with
others.  There is a post on the FHL regarding our concerns by another
shelter director.  It's a good topic with real questions addressed.
 
Ms. Fox, I really think we were at different shows.  I am appalled that
this club is so apathetic to such a threat as ADV.  You have a shelter,
weren't you worried yourself about exposure?  In previous posts by you
on the FML, I have queried you, but never received an answer.  Do you
subscribe to the BFC philosophy that ADV is not a threat?
 
Well, back home and sanitized!
 
Sincerely,
Joan Wont
[Posted in FML issue 3774]