You folks are terrific! I printed out yesterdays (by the time you read this it will be yesterday's) FML, and all the notes I got and took them to Jane today. Jane is so touched by the notes and show of support she is receiving from all who wrote. She was *floored* when I told her that the FML went out at 2am and by 6:30am NY time there were notes from three people in my mailbox, one of which was from Sam Young in New Zealand, who had already set up a web page with the story (and a guestbook!), and was just waiting for an OK to set up official links to it. It is at: http://users.1st.net/hammock/ferrets/wchester.htm Please stop by and sign the guestbook; I will be printing the entries out for Jane as they come in. Today the Westchester Journal ran a story on their ferret with a picture of Jane. (She does not have pictures of Tickles.) I have sent them an email asking permission to reproduce the story on the website (it didn't appear on the www.nyjournalnews.com site) and hopefully they will ok that. The story notes that Animal Control Officer Earl Price didn't realize the animal was domesticated. Police Chief Kaplica said training would be enhanced to make clear that ferrets are pets and not indigenous to this area. You see folks, here in Westchester County we have this big problem with wild animals running around wearing collars and bells, impersonating pets, so it's quite understandable to see how Earl Price might think a ferret sporting a pink harness and three jingle bells (which he was still wearing at the time Price released him "into a wooded area") was actually a wild animal. Yep, deer, raccoons, squirrels, you name it, they run around Westchester County wearing collars, harnesses, and bells. Uh-huh. How dumb do the police think WE are?? This is not a training issue! This guy didn't *care*! In my opinion, the only thing additional training will do, is motivate Price not to document his actions and not to get caught. Training is not the answer. Neither is disciplinary action. (The article notes that Price has been disciplined, but Chief Kapica declined to comment on what that discipline was.) He needs to be *fired*. Jane summed up my feelings quite well in one of her letters to the Greenburgh Town Board when she said, "I want this man to never again have so much as a goldfish placed into his care." She has a copy of the police reports, and we discussed varous directions this can go in. (Can't say more about the details right now, but will post more on that as the issues become 'official'.) Yes, the local humane societies know. Yes, they are ticked. All I'm going to say in general is that we have to be careful what info and names get released (news wise), in part because when the dust settles from this the local folks, who have been nice have to go on working, and for many of them that means interacting with the police dept. Special thanks go out to Sam Young for the website, Sharon Pease for all the work you did today, Margie Szelmeczka for the many suggestions and kind words, and to Jean Caputo-Lee, who had offered to bring them a ferret all the way from Ohio when she comes next week. To anyone I didn't thank privately, thanks! I think I got back to most of you, my appologie to any I've missed, it's been rather hectic today. Jane BTW is a freelance illustrator, she does childrens books. I got her to show me some of her work, it is just *beautiful*! And she has some 'downtime' coming up, so I am trying to convince her (not hard at all!) that she can do some ferret artwork (maybe those temporary tattoos I suggested over the summer) to fill in that time. If she does, I'll let everyone know. One last note-FWIW, this was not their only pet (not of course, that that diminishes the loss they feel), they have an assortment of animals, including a dog, two surviving ferrets, a rabbit, a hedgehog and some really cute mice. But they are not looking to get another ferret right now. exhausted from today, signing off... -Ilena Ayala [Posted in FML issue 2493]