From the Editor

Welcome to our special Chat Week edition of CritterNews from ExoticHobbyist.com. This marks our 7th Annual Chat Week online pet seminar and our largest chat event ever.

Special guests on ExoticHobbyist.com and our other sites run the gamut from noted pet authors, photographers and animal researchers to celebrity guests from around the world such as Chad Brown from the Seattle Seahawks and Mark O'Shea from Animal Planet's Mark O'Shea's Big Adventure. Topics include a panel discussion on "Rescue: Why We Do It, How We Cope," with several rescue workers including Fox Valley Ferret Rescue's Nanette Thurber, an eye-opening presentation on "Why Exotic Pets Should Not Be Banned" with AfricanServal.com's Jessi Clark-White, and a visit with hedgehog breeder and judge Antigone "Tig" Means-Burleson. Animal communicator Marta Williams, author of "Learning Their Language," will discuss developing intuitive communication with animals and nature, and we'll meet Richard Avanzino, president of Maddie’s Fund®, the Pet Rescue Foundation, a family foundation established in 1999 to help fund the creation of a no-kill nation.

You can check out the complete exotichobbyist.com chat schedule below, and see all our special guests for all our sites here.

We'll see you at Chat Week!

Seventh Annual Chat Week at ExoticHobbyist.com:
February 27-March 5, 2005

Sunday February 27

Rescue: Why We Do It, How We Cope
Nanette Thurber, Fox Valley Ferret Rescue
Norma Stevlingson, Animal Rescue Federation of Superior, Wisconsin
Dottie Zammetti, A Home At Last Rescue Network
Terri Bass, Dane County Humane Society
Carol Backers, National Borzoi Rescue Foundation
Darla Duffey, Jacksonville Sheltie Rescue
Sunday, February 27, at 8 PM Eastern in the Haven
A co-presentation with RescueNetwork.org
All of us who do rescue face the question sooner or later: Why do we keep doing this? What do we do with our pain? How can we keep helping animals in the face of burn-out, stress, caregiver fatigue, financial burdens, family conflicts, and all the other emotional downsides of doing rescue? Join this panel of dedicated rescue and shelter workers as we look at "Why We Do It, How We Cope." Sign up for our free email reminder of our Rescue Panel Discussion here.

Monday February 28

Antigone (Tig) Means-Burleson
Hedgehogs as Pets
Monday, February 28, at 9 PM Eastern, in ExoticHobbyist Chat
Antigone (Tig) Means-Burleson is the author of The Hedgehog Primer and has been breeding hedgehogs for ten years and maintains the HedgehogValley.com website. She is a member of the International Hedgehog Association (IHA), where she served as the Director in charge of the International Hedgehog Registry and Breeder Ethics, Rescue, and Interim President. She is also an IHA Licensed Master Judge.

Wednesday March 2

Jessi Clark-White of AfricanServal.com
Why Exotic Pets Should Not Be Banned
Wednesday, March 2, at 9 PM Eastern, in ExoticHobbyist Chat
Jessi Clark-White is a strong advocate for the responsible ownership of exotic pets. She writes, "The current lobby to outlaw people's exotic pets is fueled by miconceptions and special interests. The truth is that banning exotic animals doesn't help them - it kills them! These bans result in pets being seized from their loving owners and killed or placed in overburdened rescue facilities." She debunks the myth that exotic pet ownership is dangerous, inhumane, or irresponsible.

Thursday March 3

Rich Avanzino of Maddies Fund
Building a No-Kill Nation
Wednesday, March 2, at 9 PM Eastern, in the Auditorium
A co-presentation with the RescueNetwork, DogHobbyist.com, and CatHobbyist.com!
Widely recognized as a visionary and "outside the box" thinker, Rich Avanzino has had a major influence on the nation's animal welfare movement. As President of The San Francisco SPCA from 1976-1999, Avanzino led San Francisco to become the first City and and County in the nation to offer an adoption guarantee for every healthy shelter cat and dog (1994). This unprecedented guarantee prompted statewide legislation (California's Hayden Law) and sparked other cities, counties and states to follow his example. The vast majority of the City's sick and injured shelter animals were saved as well. During his twenty-two year tenure as President of The SF/SPCA, Avanzino brought euthanasia rates down to the lowest of any urban center in the nation. He also created adoption, animal behavior, feral cat, and spay/neuter programs that have become models for the nation. Avanzino's demonstrated leadership prompted Maddie's Fund founders Dave and Cheryl Duffield, to hire him as the foundations first President in 1999. The family foundation is helping to fund the creation of a no-kill nation. The first goal is to help fund a nationwide adoption guarantee for all healthy shelter cats and dogs. The next step will be to save the sick and injured pets in animal shelters nationwide.

As one of the no-kill movement's most articulate spokespeople, Avanzino has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, People Magazine, Parade Magazine, ABC's 20/20 and Person of the Week on the ABC Nightly News. For more information and to sign up for a free email reminder, click here!

Friday March 4

Marta Williams, author of Learning Their Language
Animal Communication
Friday, March 4, at 10 PM Eastern in the Auditorium
A co-presentation with DogHobbyist.com and CatHobbyist.com!
"Despite what you may have been taught, it is actually possible to communicate intuitively with animals and nature. I was skeptical about it at first too, especially since my background is in science. I now know that it works, and I believe it is an inherited ability that anyone can learn to develop." Come find out how to intuitively communicate with the animals in your life with animal communicator Marta Williams, author of Learning Their Language. Sign up for a free email reminder of our chat with Marta Williams here.

Saturday March 5

Mark O'Shea
>From Animal Planet's "Mark O'Shea's Big Adventure"
Saturday, March 5, at 7 PM Eastern, in kingsnake.com's Chat Room
Back by popular demand! One of our most requested guests, Mark O'Shea has travelled to some of the world's most exotic locations, encountering some of the planet's deadliest and most fascinating reptiles and amphibians. From Arkansas to Argentina, India to Indonesia, and New Guinea to New Caledonia, Mark has come face to fang with king cobras, beaked seasnakes and silent rattlesnakes. He’s got up close and personal with snapping turtles, snappy gators and cryptic crocs. A kingsnake.com chat that should be of interest to ExoticHobbyist.com users as well!

How to Attend

These events will be held in chat rooms listed above. To access the chats:

There is nothing to download or install, but the system does require you to have java enabled in your browser settings. We strongly suggest you access the room before the chat, so you have time to address any difficulties you might have. You might want to drop by one of our regular weekly chats as a test run. If you have trouble, please visit our Chat Help Area.

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