Hi all, I am a member of this group, but am posting this anonymously for now. For the past 8 months, DSS has been involved in my family's life, never giving a clear reason why they continued to keep the case open. It was initially opened because a so-called "friend" of the family didn't like the ferrets and thought the house was messy. I had gotten the distinct impression from the first worker that was here that he did not like ferrets at all, but I digress. They have finally agreed to close the case, which is a major relief. The worker still is going to check with the school, hence the anonymous posting - I really don't want to jinx anything until it is officially closed. During our last meeting, which was just basically a goodbye, the worker finally came clean about the reason for all the visits and months of hell we've been put through. And I quote, "If you want to keep DSS out of your lives, you won't rescue any more ferrets." I played it cool and said since I'm having another human child, it would just be too much to take any in, blah blah blah. But I was absolutely dumbfounded - after all this time, and all the education I tried to give them about the animals, they still think they're dangerous wild creatures. The ignorance astounds me. That's all for now - I'll keep you guys posted, and will probably talk more after the case is officially closed. I'm scared that if I say something to them, or they suddenly start getting pamphlets in the mail and stuff, that they'll reopen the case, so I'll probably keep these postings anon. AL [Posted in FML issue 4130]