Everyone-- I talked with Rita McDowell again tonight. I gave her the address for the TV show "The Crusaders". She has called them before, but all she was old was that they get thousands of calls each week and don't have time to track them all down. So now that she has the address, she's going to send them a packet of info about her family's situation. For anyone else who is interested in this show, the address and phone number are: The Crusaders P.O. Box 6363 Burbank, CA 91510-6363 (800) 434-5111 In other news from Kansas, Rita tells me that it looks like the bill introduced to give ferrets a domesticated status across the board will fail. The legislators are saying that they want to wait on it until a shedding period study is complete before recognizing ferrets as domestic. Rita said that she recently saw in the papers where someone in Kansas was bitten by a cougar, requiring multiple stitches. The person who "owns" the animal was fined because he keeps it as a pet in an apartment (!), but the animal was only quarantined. When asked about testing the cougar for rabies, the state said that the animal was too valuable to be destroyed for testing, and they weren't going to kill it. As far as Rita knows, the man will get his cougar back. But ferrets are wild and dangerous animals as far as Kansas is concerned. What absolute idiocy! Tonight Rita said that it seems that a black cloud is just following them around. We've seen notes from other people telling how their 13 year old daughter had her leg broken and the tendons severed, requiring surgery. Well her treatment continues, and of course the McDowells are without insurance. Two nights ago their older daughter was driving a few friends home because the girl who was supposed to drive had gotten drunk and couldn't drive. The McDowell girl is not allowed to drive any of the family's vehicles, so she is not insured. She lost control of the car and hit a brick wall. She had to have a few stitches but is okay, as are the other occupants of the car. However, there will be another court case, because Miss McDowell was uninsured and the owners of the car don't carry insurance that covers the vehicle regardless of driver. So far as Mike's job goes, more than one lawyer has said that he has a good case against the sheriff/county as far as the malicious attack on his character goes. In Mike's favor is how he keeps being called to testify in court cases on behalf of the sheriff's department, yet he was fired for being "dishonest and untrustworthy"? But all of these small-town lawyers keep refusing to represent the McDowells even after saying that they have a good case. Afraid of offending the Good Ole' Boy Network, I suppose. Lawyers from the larger towns say that the case isn't worth the extra time it would take them to do the travelling that would be involved to represent the McDowells. For now, Mike is working for a buddy operating heavy equipment, but that's temporary/seasonal. Even the guy who had given them his ferret has taken it back. Rita said it was a really sweet little fuzzy.... For those who are concerned with keeping track of the McDowells because of the impending loss of their home, Rita said to let everyone know that the have been given until July 1 to move out, so the address and phone number will be valid for a quite a while yet. Please consider giving Rita a quick call to boost her spirits. She must have told me a dozen times how glad she was to hear from me just to have a friendly voice again. Even if you feel a little silly or uncomfortable, Rita's gotten used to talking to all sorts of different people while trying to find a way to defend herself and Mike from this mess, and she'll be happy to talk away to you about your ferrets, your family, or her situation. It's certainly no harder than making friends and learning to talk to each other on the electronic net! Someone on the FML asked for the address and phone number to be reposted, so here it is: Mike and Rita McDowell Box 432 Onaga, KS (913)889-7180 One other note, anyone who is making contributions to the McDowells, please be sure you send your money to a reputable national organization or local club that is collecting funds for them, or send the money directly to the McDowells. Rita told me that two donations have been sent to one of their former lawyers (including $100 from AFA), and the lawyer had to practically be beaten into admitting that he had received it. He still hasn't credited it to their bill. Just a word of caution so that your money really goes where you intended it to! Debra in Ft. Worth, TX [Posted in FML issue 0779]