It was May 1995 when our son David (then 12) wanted a ferret for his birthday. My husband Jim, David and I went to the closest pet store and bought our Meeko (the sweetest lil ol sable male). When David began school that Sept. I noticed how lonely Meeko was in his absence. On a trip to Meeko's vet for his check up we spotted a business card from the Brevard Ferret Lovers Rescue Inc. on the bulletin board in the vet's waiting room. We called the number and DD Glaser scheduled an appointment for Meeko to come and pick out a friend, that's right, Meeko had the choice. While Meeko danced around checking out all the possibilities that circled him, DD and Cheryl educated us on the proper care of fuzzies. Meeko still had not made his choice although Erin a female sable found in a small cage on a pitchers mound of a local baseball field in the middle of Hurricane Erin just couldn't get enough of this new guy. David and I took in all they had to offer in the way of advice verbal and written BUT, when DD STRONGLY warned us about Public Health policies concerning ferrets that bite or scratch, I was mortified. DD knew she hit nerve and proceeded to tell us Minas story. A little girl, Mina Baxter had taken a fuzzie she had hand raised from birth (Rascal) with her to her Pediatricians office. When the nurse tried to pat Rascal, Rascal nipped her finger. The nurse being a nurse called animal control thinking that they would quarantine Rascal. When Judy Billings arrived at a then 11 year old Mina's house she literally had to pry Rascal from a very hysterical Mina's arms. The Rescue got involved but, we know how the story ended. Rascal was negative rabies of course. The story made me physically ill. I was screaming inside. Our David was Mina's age. I couldn't imagine anything like that happening to him and Meeko. We put a deposit down on Erin and DD ended Mina's story with,"Mina still has all of Rascal's toy's in a box." I vowed that day that there would be no more Mina's and Rascals. The members of the Brevard Ferret Lovers Rescue, especially DD & Kevin Glasser, Cheryl Holtz and Susie Sherman were phenomenal. They rallied behind the effort gathering great information, bolstering an occasional waning confidence level, traveling to great distances, making phone calls, petition signing sessions well you get the picture. Dick Bossart had already set a precedent in NH with an established quarantine period for fuzzies and he became my legislative guru, Dr. Freddie Ann Hoffman at the AFA was another valued mentor, Troy Lynn another dinosaur on the cutting edge of a national ferret awareness campaign all of whom became Florida Ferrets Earth Bound Angels. It took 3 long years of pounding the pavement, going toe to toe with Public Health Officials as well as countless other extreme measures to get our voices heard prior to the National Compendium Committee on Animal Rabies Control current recommendation to get to where we are today. Sukie Crandall posted this in issue #2277 of the FML >If you haven't contacted YOUR local departments PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do >so NOW. The ferret you save may be your own!!!!!!! Urging us to contact our health officials. >FLORIDA 850-488-2905 Richard S. Hopkins -- legislation being pursued to be >extra safe, I hadn't talked with Dr. Hopkins in quite awhile. I normally spoke with his associates at the Epidemiology branch of Public Health in Tallahassee Dr. Landis Crockett, Dr. Bill Bigler and on occasion before he retired, our very own Chief Deputy Secretary of Health Dr. Blechman. I called Dr. Hopkins out of curiosity. I wanted to get his opinion on our then pending bill. Dr. Hopkins was quite clear on his stand given his reply to my," What is your opinion on HB3115"? "I don't see why, given the recommendation you insist on making it a law"? He asked. His reply sent chills up my spine. I bit my tongue and answered with,"Because now you can be held accountable for your actions with a law that will protect OUR BEST INTERESTS." I cannot stress enough just how important it is for each state to follow suite. A RECOMMENDATION is JUST THAT it's not a MANDATED LAW. A recommendation allows 1 person to interpret it in any way they see fit, whereas a law establishes clear cut guide lines that have to be followed. It took 116 House Representatives and 38 Senators to pass HB3115 and if it were to be challenged it would have to be done so, legislatively and that takes a year or more to do. Sukie is correct when she urges you to stay in touch with your state public health officials ( keep your friends close BUT, your enemies closer ) it's a GREAT first step BUT, don't drop the ball there. If you want to insure that your fuzzies will live long, care free lives for years to come then get off your duffs and do something about it. There is (as I explained above) a wonderful network of mentors out there. Actions speak louder than words. If there is someone in your state seeking legislative changes then by God, get behind that person and support them any way you can. If you have any questions or comments by all means e-me. Marie E Wallace [Posted in FML issue 2298]