How many times have you wished that there was a "How To" course on caring for your beloved ferrets? A course designed for you, the ferret owner, rather than for veterinarians and their staff. A course that deals with issues the ferret owner faces everyday. Massachusetts Ferret Friends, Inc. will be starting a Ferret Education Series for just this purpose, with the first seminar devoted to ADV (Aleutians Virus Disease). Think of this as ADV 101 - a seminar where you will have an opportunity to learn where the disease originated, how it affect our ferrets, how it is transmitted and how we can protect our ferrets from the risk of exposure, just to name a few of the topics to be covered. MaFF would like to invite you to our ADV Seminar to be held on July 13th at the All Newton Music School, 321 Chestnut Street, West Newton from 1:00PM - 3:00PM. We are pleased to have as our guest speaker, Alicia Drakiotes, director of Ferret Wise Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Marlborough, NH. Alicia, a strong advocate of greater awareness of ADV, has been in close contact with the University of Georgia, where extensive research is being conducted with the hopes of finding out more about ADV and how to control its spread in the ferret community. Since 1999, she has been administering ADV tests on all ferrets coming into Ferret Wise and has encouraged all shelters to adopt a similar testing standard. In addition to Alicia's presentation, there will be a "question and answer" period, plenty of literature to take home and study and suggestions on how to speak about ADV with other ferret owners. To date, we have been fortunate in Massachusetts in that we have not had an ADV positive ferret (to the best of our knowledge), but the Board of Directors feels very strongly that MaFF has a responsibility to provide our members, our ferret-knowledgeable vets, and our friends who own ferrets the necessary tools for making sound and reasonable decisions concerning the protection of all ferrets from exposure to ADV. We ask that you set aside this day on your calendar and join us for this very important seminar. Light refreshments will be served after the seminar, as well as the drawing for the Martin's Carrier filled with lots of ferret goodies. This seminar is for humans only. No fuzzies, please. Directions will be posted shortly on http://maferrets.org There will be ample parking, but why not ride with a friend. In closing, consider the following quotation - "Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it." - Marian Wright We look forward to seeing you at the seminar and please feel free to contact us at [log in to unmask] with any questions or suggestions for future seminars. For more information on ADV, visit http://www.geocities.com/russiansmom Phyllis M. Spy Massachusetts Ferret Friends, Inc. Dedicated to education, outreach and shelter of the domestic ferret [Posted in FML issue 3820]