Mr. Lipinski, I'd like to clarify comments in your post regarding Jean Smith. First, Lance Seurer has not been exonerated. He has been released *with prejudice* , meaning he can be arrested again at any time for this incident. This was explained by Scott Kassap when Lance's release was reported. What is the circumstantial evidence against Ms. Smith? Did I miss seeing this report? To my knowledge there was nothing remotely close to $7000.00 in funds and supplies donated to Ms. Smith. It was reported in the papers that she said she *lost* $7000.00 in the death of her ferrets. A couple of months after the incident I was told a total of about $15.00 was sent in to the trust fund. I have no idea the total amount of funds/supplies Ms. Smith actually received. I never asked her since it really was none of my business. This is a statement from the Spokane Review on March, 26th. "Bank accounts to help Smith, 50, were started in Spokane and in Idaho after she reported the net loss from the ferrets exceeded $7,000." It would be very interesting to know who has recently sent you an appeal for Ms. Smith's ferrets. The web site devoted to this incident clearly has all the latest information that we know about, including the newspaper account of Lance Seurer being released *with prejudice*. To my knowledge Ms. Smith never appealed to anyone for funds or supplies. Appeals were made on behalf of the ferrets by a few of us. Our concern was and is for the welfare of the ferrets and thanks to the generosity of the ferret community and FML, by donating funds directly to the vets, funds and supplies to Ms. Smith for the ferrets, all the ferrets from that point on survived. IF the guilty person should be Ms. Smith, I'm the one who owes each of you an apology for sending the details and asking for help for the ferrets. My first reaction was "Oh my God, I'll never get involved in anything else again if this is true". However, my love for these wonderful little critters will lead me to be involved in anyway that will provide a happier and healthier life for them. Ms. Smith did not ask me to write to the FML. When I made her aware of the FML and asked if I could get the story to them, she said "Please do. Everyone should know about this and help to find the person responsible." Jean did NOT ask for a thing! If donations to causes we feel worthy are illegal, God help all needy animals and humans everywhere. There would be many of us on the FML guilty for appeals we've made to help so many fuzzies and I personally feel honored to be among them. I'm afraid I'll continue to be a "soft touch" for the benefit of the ferrets I love so much. Whether this was all a scam or not, I don't know. The concern should be that the guilty party be found and arrested as soon as possible, no matter who. Lie detector tests are not admissible in court. Emotions play a big factor in the results. I believe a person capable of such cold-hearted torture could easily pass a lie detector test and I'd hate to see our justice system use these as proof of innocence or guilt. I have requested information from PAWS and will be contacting Ms. Lombardi on Monday. Jackie Hawley [Posted in FML issue 2268]