On Monday August 25 at approximately 10:30 am, Beavis was put to death to be tested for rabies. On approximately Aug 15, Beavis reportedly bit a neighbor. The neighbor reported the bite and requested that the ferret be tested. On Friday Aug 22, the Health Department ordered that the ferret be turned into a local vet's office first thing Monday morning or they would take legal action against the owners. This morning, the owner turned Beavis in as required. I asked the vet to not kill the ferret immediately until I had a chance to talk to Bill Van Curan at the Health Department. Mr. Van Curan would not take my calls, and I was told he was out of the office when he was indeed there. He also denied receiving any of the multitude of informational faxes I know were sent to him. At about 10 am Van Curan called the vet's office and ordered them to immediately kill Beavis. The vet complied. As required by law, the head will be sent to the State Labs for testing and the remainder of the body cremated. They will turn over the ashes to me and I will return them to the owner for proper burial. A number of people made truly herculean efforts over the weekend to try to save Beavis. I want to especially thank Beth, who was my touchstone; she would not let me give up. Jean and Marie's courage was inspirational. Bev is my best friend as always. Troy Lynn, and others I did not talk to directly provided the stats and official info. Next time we will not fail. (Beavis joins Cocoa, the Lake County ferret, over the Rainbow Bridge, where they dance merrily and poop on the health department officials' heads.) Linda Iroff North Coast Ferret Shelter http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff [Posted in FML issue 2045]