I received a very kind e-mail from Sheriff Mike Sharp, Jackson County, Missouri. I have not yet gotten a response from him about quoting his words (been CRAZY here and took me a few hours to get back to ask him). Going to try to paraphrase it. If he gets back to me soon, I'll send original along. He thanked me for the e-mail I sent him last night. He said he personally talked with Chief Ambrose. Sheriff Sharp believes Ambrose and his officers have done a thorough job of investigating and have turned evidence to Jackson Co Prosecutor's Office and that it will be up to the prosecutor to determine "how and when any tests" will be done on the ferret. He went on to say how "emotionally moved" the officers were..... He gave me the phone number for Jackson Co Prosecutor's Office 1-816-881-3000 That number got answered by a long message machine. Then got a person in prosecutor's office (must have been a receptionist and didn't sound like the sharpest knife in the drawer, BUT I was polite to her). She would NOT let me talk to prosecutor or any of his deputies (BTW, his name is Jim Kanatzar). She wanted to know what I was calling about. I told her what and why. She listened and made me repeat about wanting the stomach contents analyzed by a capable, knowledgeable, non-partisan third party. Those big words went WAY over her head......long pause. She says, "Why would you want to do that??!" and I give a little thing on just doesn't seem..... She says, "And this is a dog?" No, ma'am, it's a ferret. A WHAT!? It's a ferret, ma'am. A WHAT?? A Feeerrrrrrrrrreeeetttttttt. A FERRET?? Yes, ma'am (and I guarantee you that woman has no clue what a ferret is)....(or maybe it's just a bad "3G" connection they are always advertising....but don't think so). She finally connected me to the Public Relations Office. There I spoke to a Velda Cook. She was very kind and had more sense. I had to go thru the whole thing again. Had a little problem getting thru to her that we want to verify that it wasn't some other animal (size of ferrets...the way they eat....she apparently has never met one either) or a person that did it. She told me she had heard NOTHING at all about the incident, but she will call me back when she learns something. BTW, the only way I got either one to listen to me, I believe, is that I told them I was calling from here. A long-distance call gets their attention. They both go, "you're calling from WHERE?" and one of them even made me spell it. I also told them I know of at least 2329 people (thanks for the stats BIG) following this on a daily basis. "People not just in the US, but in the world." Here is the address Jim Kanatzar, Chief Prosecutor, Jackson County Courthouse, 415 East 12th Street, Kansas City, MO 64106 (phone 1-816-881-3000, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you hav a LOT of rollover minutes saved up - just kidding). Donna, still in Henderson and Evansville [Posted in FML 6955]