>probably give me he!! about saying that MN is a kill and test state (but >technically it still is). Correction: Technically Minnesota has no official policy regarding any pets at a state level. The policy of the state dept. of health is to refer bite cases to local municipalites. This is in response to an administrative rules change petitioned by ferret owners in the state. The former rule (4605.7600 sub 3) listed ferrets among a long list of animals which were to be considered rabies suspect. The rule stated that these animals should be killed and tested after a bite incident if the animals were found running stray. If the owner of the animal comes forward to claim ownership the rule says that the animal is to be examined by a vet to determine if there is any rabies risk. The state epidemiolgist, Craig Hedberg, used to routinely ignore the second half of the rule and pass off his personal recommendation to kill and test as state policy. As a result several municipalities got into trouble for following the "official state policy" instead of their own city ordinances. In response to the petition which calls for the state to define guidelines for vets to use to determine rabies risk the DOH ammended the rule to remove themselves from the entire process. C'mon Dawn, you read all the documents about this. I want to thank Eden Rain for sharing my feelings on keeping the season non-denominational. I, for one, am one of those who not only find the xmas barrage annoying but actually offensive. Particularly the heavy religous messages like the one by Kim Burkard. I understand that to the very religious their beliefs are important parts of their lives. This is true for us non=christians too. How would those who hold their christianity dear feel if, for two months every year, they were bombarded on a daily basis with the pagan winter solstice messages (no offense meant to the pagans, just wanted to pick something as opposite as possible to their beliefs and this came to mind) and treated like there was something wrong with you if you didn't want to participate. I know that for the most part these folks aren't doing this intentionally. They just get so wrapped up in their holiday that they don't think of others feelings. But remember, the FML is a very diverse community and one of the conerstones of any such community is consideration for others. Please feel free to share your beliefs with those who share them. But don't throw them in the faces of those who don't. This whole rant was just to make me feel better and I really don't expect anything to change as a result so I will just do as I have in years past and just delete the next two FMLs without reading them to avoid the barrage (and hope that if there is anything important that someone will let me know privately). See ya in a couple of days. [Posted in FML issue 2165]