Bob was suggesting some things to work on at a National level. With some discussion of the national groups I'll make some points: Unfortunately what we have now is several basically regional groups acting as if they were THE Natinoal group but none really is. AFA, FURO, LIFE, LOS, NAFA and STAR* (alphabetical not politically ordered) are all groups that are larger than merely local. Most of them do not get along with each other. Right now LIFE and LOS are co-operating. All have claims to working for the 'rights' of ferrets. Most are run by the same person that founded them. None have real elections for the top leadership - I think some might eventually. Most grew out of the ashes of the IFA (International Ferret Association) that was the followers of George Harmon. George seems to have vanished. I am or have been a member of all of these that I can join. I really wish they would be able to co-operate more than they do now. American Ferret Association: AFA takes individual members and has clubs in many parts of the country associated with it. It is based in Ferederick Maryland. Sally Heber is the Preseident. It has associated clubs and sanctioned shows in Maryland, New York, Minnesota and some others in with less solid a connection. Ferret Unity and Registration Organization: FURO is now run by John Armishaw in North Carolina. Unfortunately it is not a growing organization. It only has one sanctioned show this year in New Jersey. It may not last much longer and hopefully it will not take a lot of information when it goes. Fara Shimbo did a lot of good writing but once she no longer ran the group it seems to have shrunk. League of Independant Ferret Enthusiasts: LIFE does not have individual members it only has club or shelter members. Currently it is based in Burke Virginia. The strongest presence is in Pennsylvania with other shelters and clubs in New York, Virginia, Florida and New Jersy. I'm sure their are others. It is run by Ann Davis. Legion Of Superferrets: LOS has recently grown by adding many chapters. I'm not aware of how it is organized now. I think Rose Smith is still the head honcho of the National organization. North American Ferret Association: NAFA is based in Dale City Virginia and has its strongest presence in Texas and Colorado with recent growth in Michighan and Indiana. It is run by Chuck Scaggs. Shelters That Adopt and Rescue: STAR* is the organization of shelters that was put together mostly by Pam Grant. She is located in Annandale Virginia AFA, FURO, LIFE, and NAFA grew directly out of problems with the IFA. The AFA, LIFE, NAFA and STAR* are all headquartered within an hours drive of each other. They all USED to get along (sort of). What we do NOT need is yet another national organization that can't get along with these groups. All spend a reasonable portion of their 'incomes' on politically motivated (positive for ferrets I mean) causes such as legalization. I personally will not announce my support or lack there of for any of these groups in this public forum. It is not what BIG wants nor would it be productive to open a real chance for them to blast eah other on this list. Hopefully BIG would allow them to clarify anything I said. No harm was intended to any of them. The IFA, FURO and NAFA all have registration processes. But there is no cross registration. It is also closed to those who could actually use it - breeders and vets. Several breeders in this area are working on real database registrations. I am involved in this directly. I am enterring all information I can on any ferret I can. Right now I am gathering information from ferret show catalogs. Pedigree information, medical, genetic, color, birth, death date and cause, owner possibly to include address and anything else that anyone decides is needed. Eventually this will become a publically accessible database. Since charging for registration has not worked for FURO or NAFA at a really national level I'm not expecting to charge for such. THis is so important to us breeders that I am trying not to jeopordize it by any restrictions on what ferrets can be included. I will accept any information from anyone who wants their ferret registered. Restrictions on data searches will be on a basis of reasonable privacy. I won't let anyone try to decide who has too many ferrets or who doesn't care for their ferrets by the list. The intentions are to let us track possible genetic clues to any of the diseases and other maladies affecting ferrets. How I can make it useful to vets will be up to them. If their is someway to track this that assures reasonable privacy to their clients but creates a database of problems I would love to work on it. If it requires a seperate database with different tracking informatio thats fine with me. The intention is to a be acomputer accessable list - free online. With charges to almost cover costs for 'pretty prints' of pedigrees or off line dumps. This is not intended to be a profit source for anyone. I will compose a basic form at some point for registration that will be freely available. I will accept information anytime anyone wants to give it to me. I hadn't wanted to make this early an announcement of this but it seemed the time for other reasons. bill killian [Posted in FML issue 1371]