The American Council on Ferret Health, Welfare and Policy is working on
a formal response to the USDA APHIS call for comments on ferret specific
regulations.  As part of that response, they are compiling a list of
specific cases where age of shipment or travel conditions resulted in
ferret health issues.
 
If you are aware of specific cases, please e-mail Dr. Freddie Ann Hoffman
([log in to unmask]).  Please include: FULL NAME, CITY-STATE, POINT of
PURCHASE, # of KITS involved; PROBLEM ENCOUNTERED, INTERVENTION, OUTCOME
if known.  Avoid mention of specific names of petstores/farms, etc.; just
focus on the specific instances where ferret-specific regulations would
have helped the ferrets avoid the problems they encountered.
 
Please do not send letters of support for the regulations to Dr. Hoffman,
those should go the the USDA.  See the IFC website for details on how to
submit letters to the USDA.
 
Please send information on specific cases to Dr. Hoffman at
[log in to unmask] by October 20 so they can be included in the
letter.
 
Thank you!
 
Linda Iroff
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5021]