Kat Parsons worked so very hard to create the pages for Lil Bear. The page containing "Lil Bear's Story" has, however, been removed from the web site. I wrote that story a week after I brought Lil Bear home. The "facts" contained in it were what I believed to be true, but I have been informed that some were not, in fact, correct. I have been asked to let people know that the people in NM are, indeed, aware of ADV and some have been testing regularly for quite some time. I have also been asked to let everyone know that the decision to send Lil Bear on his way before the test results were back was not due to the people in NM believing there was no ADV there, but simply because those were the arrangements that were made for Lil Bear's "travel" by others. I'm assuming this is true and I appreciate the phone call correcting the story. I don't know if I will be putting Lil Bear's Story back on the web site. The truth is, I have heard differing versions of Bear's story and, since I wasn't "there", I cannot say with any certainty what really happened. The one thing everyone involved seems to agree on was that what happened with Lil Bear was something that caused a lot of bad feelings between quite a few people...with Lil Bear right square in the middle. I apologize if my story made anyone feel "stupid" or uninformed about ADV. I apologize if it hurt anyone's feelings. I assure everyone that was never my intent. All I can say now is that *I* don't really care what Lil Bear's past was. He is here now with me, he's very happy and he will be loved for the rest of his life. He has friends to play with, lots of room to run and play, and has learned to trust me. I would truly love to put the matter of Lil Bear's past to rest now. I think there has been enough "turmoil" over this little guy. Again, I apologize for any parts of his "Story" that are not true. Judy Please give to Aleutian Disease research...the ferret you save may be your own! http://www.geocities.com/russiansmom/index.html [Posted in FML issue 3411]