Hugs & Dooks to all! There have been alot of posts on the unbecoming statements from Ben Stiller in regards to being nipped by a ferret in the movie Along came Polly. There was a post to contact his agent in regards to the comments made by Mr. Stiller and I for one responded to that with the following letter. I believe that Mr. Stiller is like millions of people out there who need to be educated on ferrets....this is how we win the war over the misconception of them being stinky, rats, weasels...vicious..etc. Only through education will more people be aware of what awsome little animals they are and how much joy and love they give to their humans. I urge everyone on the list to have compassion for Mr. Stiller who quite obviously is under educated about our wonderful fuzzbutts and take the opportunity to write to his agent and educate him and hopefully his client. My letter to Mr. Stillers agent: Dear Mr. Stevens, Needless to say I was extremely upset and disappointed over the recent comments of Ben Stiller in regards to ferrets. I have been owned by a ferret for the past 3 years and was dismayed that someone who has access to the public would promote the hate of one animal....Please ask Mr. Stiller to do some research on these wonderful animals and pets....does he know that they are used in Animal Assisted Therapy programs with the elderly, with children with autism, and in nursing homes. Animal assisted therapy is one way that ferrets give back to the human race and has been documented as a relief to pain and suffering....it is unfortanate that Mr. Stiller was bitten, or nipped, but I wonder what precipatated this nip...was the ferret overstimulated...(cats will nip when you wrestle with them), was he frightened, was he tired from a long shoot....whatever the case, he may just have been playing. I urge Mr. Siller to educate himself about ferrets and direct him to the FML archives. He will find loads of information along with many rescues that have occured all over the US and Canada, and also the horrible abuses inflicted upon these animals...the site address for the FML archives is as follows: http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html http://users.1st.net/hammock/ferrets/fml.htm Please also extend an invitation for Mr. Stiller to contact me as I would love to introduce him to my boy Spaz, whom I sure would be able to educate Mr. Stiller on love, gentleness, happiness & alot of comic relief. Sincerely Kate Mckinley & Spaz Canada Take care Kate & Spas [Posted in FML issue 4394]