Are we losing track of the real issue by allowing the Michigan ferret killing orgy to become a debate on the need for "more tests"? My personal view on the value of ferret (or any animal) research and the rea$on for it's existence in a supposedly civilized high tech society has already been banned from this forum, but aren't we forgetting that other states have adopted more rational policies toward ferrets and quarantine vs. a "kill-on-sight" mentality. Are they fools, courting disaster? Of course not, they are people who have looked at the hard statistics and come to the realization that ferrets are not a threat to public health, and they did so without the need for further testing. Everyone knows why Michigan slaughters ferrets, the woman running Michigan's DCH had her battle to defeat ferret legalization stuffed and she hates them. But one would think that, eventually, even the most dense Michigan bureaucrat would have to question the wisdom of continually trying to manufacture ferret rabies hysteria when they've never found a rabid ferret. The focus needs to remain on Michigan. "Policy" is whatever you can get away with. With enough relentless, intense heat any policy can be turned into yesterday's newspaper. Don't forget that other states are watching. Keep your fuzzies safe, Glenn J. [Posted in FML issue 2113]