Some info from APHIS sites: NOTE: > Non-Significant vs Significant Clearance > > Typical Time Required for Rulemaking > > Not significant: 1 year or more > Significant: 2-3 years or more > Note: Almost all of Animal Care's Rules are designated as significant I do not know how many or which of the questions posed in the petition already have some APHIS ground-work on them about 2 years ago when the petition was first advanced (and notice that extensive work was done to set the stage for that by Dr. Sandra Kudrak even before a petition could be sent in), or if we now see what occurs in 2 or more years. We knew going into this that these things take time, but also that if nothing was done then we'd all be stuck with the same frustrating problems years out. Heck, getting good enough protection for ferrets who bite people (same level as for cats and dogs) took ten years of core work from first vaccine testing, then approval of the vaccine, then helping fund independent studies into possible transmission risks and the length of time various rabies strains survive in ferrets, then making the states aware when the Compendium was changed (because some didn't even know), and SINCE THEN (beyond the ten core years) FML members and others providing the local education which continues even now.) Many of the best things take a lot of time as well as hard work... HERE IS THE OLDER ISSUES AND UPDATES PAGE: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/acnews.html APHIS Animal Care homepage http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/ How rule making occurs: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/rulemaking.pdf Where to link to sites that will tell you who is a farm, dealer, etc. on the APHIS list. Note that if a place sells to the RETAIL market it had better be on here. This is one way to go after animal abusers, actually. (I do NOT know how up to date their public lists are.): http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/publications.html#lists -- Sukie (not a vet) Ferret Health List co-moderator http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth FHL Archives fan http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ replacing http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org International Ferret Congress advisor http://www.ferretcongress.org [Posted in FML issue 5068]