The deadline is very rapidly approaching for letters to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the USDA. There is a petition there from Dr. Sandra Kudrak, the IFC, the AFA, and a number of other ferret groups to improve the outdated standards which largely predate even the first ferret veterinary text and are not ferret specific. Because of the special needs of ferrets we are trying to get new standards that have been designed by ferret vets to end such problems as shipping too young, death by overheating or suffocation during shipping, etc. The deadline is Nov. 18th so letters are best sent this week and next, including those from veterinarians and veterinary technicians -- when possible on hospital stationary, please. Four (4) copies must be sent in the envelope. Docket No. 04-088-1 Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71 4700 River Road Unit 118 Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 You must include the Docket No. 04-088-1 on your letter! There have even been letters of support from other nations speaking of the health and behavioral reasons why they have older ages required for shipment and sale than the below 8 week old ones encountered in pet stores here. To learn more, please, see: http://www.ferretcongress.org/ and http://www.ferret.org/news/2005-08-28-a.htm and the current issue of "Ferrets" magazine. There are sample letters at the first two locations, but feel free to write your own. If you have helped any of those underage kits your description what you encountered will help ferrets, so will other pieces of the puzzle: shipping conditions you have encountered, the conditions of underage kits when they arrive at pet stores, vet care needed, ones who didn't make it, etc. So often vets, techs, shelters, club people, and those at pet stores talk of how hard it was to save a ferret who was subjected to early shipping under poor conditions. This is our chance to change that, to end that heartbreak all over the U.S. This can be done; all it takes is a letter. Be a hero. Help improve conditions for ferrets all over the U.S. -- 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 5050]