Ann Gruden, President of FACT, has conferred with Dr. Stauber regarding the Dec. 3 FML post by Jackie Hawley. He requested that the following emails to Ms. Gruden be posted to clarify some inaccuracies, so as there is no misunderstanding as to Washington State University and his involvement in the unfortunate ferret tragedy in Spokane. Subject: Re: Recent Ferret Situation in Spokane *MIME-Version: 1.0 *Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii *Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Thu, 4 Dec 97 22:32:42 +0000 From: "Erik H. Stauber" (I removed his email address as unsure if he wanted it posted) To: [A Gruden...] Dear Ms. Gruden, Thank you for the e-mail I received this morning. While many of the details in the information provided you are not quite accurate the overall picture fits the information I have received. Basically our pathology department has received eight dead ferrets for examination following the incident after I heard from Ms. Smith on November 2O, 1997 that she had lost 60(plus) ferrets within a timespan of 4-6 hours. Durig our initial telephone conversation I also requested that two sick ferrets be brought to the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital for a clinical work up. At this time nothing was known about the cause. Four ferrets judged to be sick by Ms. Smith were brought to us by friends of Ms. Smith on November 26, 1997. Aside from skin wounds in two ferrets all 4 animals appeared clinically normal. The next time I spoke with Ms. Smith was on December 2, 1997. At that time I raised the question of payment for the work performed on the dead and living ferrets. I told her that I did not have the liberty to provide free service since I am an employee of a state institution and have to abide by the rules governing hospital policies concerning payment for work done. I was not ordered to stop caring for or testing the animals in the clinic. Beyond the findings which have been made and the results from our Pathology Department I cannot verify any of the statements made in the report you submitted to me. As a veterinarinan and humanitarian I feel strongly committed to help animals (and their owners) in need. Aside from this I have a great fondness for ferrets. With kind regards, Erik Stauber P.S.For those who are rallying to help Ms. Smith it might be important to know that our veterinary hospital is about 80 miles from the location where the terrible incident took place. We are, so to speak, not immediately available when help is needed. E.S. Dear Ms Gruden, Thank you for your latest e-mail. I would appreciate if you would post the information I sent you yesterday to correct any misconceptions that might have arisen from the original message you sent me. As to the costs which Ms. Smith has incurred from the work done at Washington State University I want to inform you (and you may post this also) that we are very grateful for the response and financial contributions we have received so far. This will help substantially in covering our expenses to date and for ongoing work. We hope to be able to conclude our involvement soon and will let you know immediately so that no unnecessary contributions are made. Many thanks again, Erik Stauber Ms. Gruden adds that FACT will be putting together a care package and requesting donations at our show Saturday in Cheshire, CT. Moxie, Member, Ferret Association of CT, Inc. [Posted in FML issue 2146]