LIFE rules stated that no ferret would be disqualified for biting, however if the judge ws uncomfortable with the ferret, or was bitten, they had the option of scoring by "visual inspection", meaning the owner or handler had to hold the ferret while it was being judged. Needless to say the ferret would be marked low, and most owners would simply withdraw the ferret if it got to that point. Ms. Bachman's ferrets definitely had some nippiness, particularly the kits. However, this is more common than you might think. Her ferrets were always immaculate at shows, and you would never have guessed the conditions they were being held in. As an FYI, Rollen Mason's (the owner of the NJ Christmas Rescue Ferrets) ferrets were the same way, and his were sweet tempered as well. In hindsight, yes, after 1998 perhaps more should have bene done. But that's past history. Playing Monday morning quarterback isn't going to help in this case. Trust me, I'm not sticking up For Ms. Bachman, I think her actions are among the most vile and horrific that I've ever encountered, and my issues with her are deep rooted from many years ago. But we need to be proactive as a community and move forward. As far as shelters using funds for personal gain, yes, I'm quite sure that in some cases this is the truth. There are several people out there who call themselves "shelters" but never have more than one, maybe two ferrets at a time, and in at least two cases their "shelter ferrets" are actually just their retired breeders. :( Regretfully some of those people are ones that have given shelters bad names. If you have concerns about how funds are being spent, then make the donation directly to SOS, who will only pay vet bills directly or send supplies. These ladies are very careful about how they spend their money, and 99.9% of your donation goes to shelters--their administrative costs are minimal, and the officers pay most if not all of them out of their own pocket. If you don't want any of your donation to go to a specific shelter, then tell the SOS ladies that. They have always honored my requests for where my donations have gone. Anne [Posted in FML issue 4231]