>*snip* "No honest person would have a problem with proper licensing for >ferret rescues, ferret charities *snip* My problem is that registration will invariably involve a fee. Most people giving to charity expect 100% of the money to go towards the aims of the Charity, NOT to be paid out to some damned civil servant who probably knows little or nothing about Ferrets. In this age of "cut to the bone" public finances there is no chance of this being a local government function I wonder at the blind obsession some people have with licencing, and the similar blindness with which they refuse to see that a regulatory framework such as they suggest would end up being paid for by the very donations that they claim to be seeking to protect, How does a licence help animals in a rescue centre when the annual costs of regulation and licencing eat into money that was donated for, and would be better spent on the care of the animals there? And please dont tell me that registered charities are so all fired wonderful, when you consider that the CPL pulled out of this county over 12 months ago and despite saying they would reform the local group "within a few months", the welfare of cats is now in the hands of several local independent and unregistered groups. At least the food donated through dump bins locally goes to "distressed" animals locally rather than being swallowed up in some central office and redirected elsewhere. Personally Im more likely to give to a local welfare than a national charity, I donate to the upkeep of homeless animals, not the offices and salaries of damned administrators. I feel that the "honesty" point is a slur on any member of the list who would query the need for bureaucracy, and seems very much in keeping with the RSPCA line of "Dont question what we say", but as a questioner, I resent the implication that I may be dishonest. Our thoughts to those with sick or angelled sock stashers Cris Page, Skweek and Rhoobarb In loving Memory of... Bubbles (Warweezil) First Ferret par excellence, leader of the Furkidz Custard (Cussieangelweezil) Twin Sister of Rhoobarb Forever in my heart [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 4425]