Well frankly I am not surprised that Ferrets Magazine has been dead ended in print. in 1998 when they tried to boy out MOdern Ferret and went ahead with the squeeze the little guy out of the market-- the magazine did not sing. It was a bare bones and bland Ferret Magazine that read like it was just selling adds. Once Marylou Zarbock became the editor, the Ferrets Magazine took on a new life a wonderful life putting forth interesting and positive material for ferret caretakers and potential owners. We do owe her a debt of gratitude for what she did for ferrets everywhere over these years. Unfortunately, ferrets are more saturated today in the current marketplace, and now there will be little educational material accessible to those who choose to purchase them. Not every person who buys a ferret will have the means to care for it.. nevermind the knowledge of where to go in cyberspace for information on how to care for it. We now enter another dark era in ferret history. An era that to me reads like in the later 1900's when no one knew why ferrets were illegal to own in the eastern US states... ( well they were only illegal to own FOR hunting rabbits but no one remembered that part of it) .. Not everyone has a computer that owns a ferret. Most folks are working, going to school and caring for family & pets-- only a small pool have regular access to a computer to make the new ferrets offereings a successful mode of education. For our shelter friends and patrons who are on the Ferrets subscription lists notices are "in the mail" and the only compensation seems to be that you could choose a different publication for the dollars you spent on an unfulfilled subscription. I don't blame those of you who are less than dazzled by the offer. We can only hope that in the next few years another publication will endeavor to assist with education about the companion ferret. We now face the dark days when ferrets are still not accepted by the established humane community as equal companions like cats and dogs. Not entitled to the same shelter resources as cats and dogs. Now with the demise of Ferrets Magazine the pet stores are still pumping out the little beasties with vigor and the resources have begun to diminish. Perhaps now is a good time to jump on the no sales of Ferrets campaign at corporate giant PetsMart and Petco. After all in the last year the ferret rescue community has lost the generous support and wholesale buying opportunities that existed with the FerretStore.com, they have lost the last ferret specific publication which helped with education, and now are faced with fewer and fewer resources to continue their existence. It would be wise to also work to integrate companion ferrets INTO the established humane shelters as ferret specific sheltering as noble as the shelterers are face an enormous task with little resources. Grant opportunities are far and few between for ferret shelterers. Support those shelters and rescues we have now, for darker days are looming for them in the near future. We have just entered the Twilight Zone. Sadly, Alicia Drakiotes outspoken ferret shelterer, educator [Posted in FML 5863]