This article is from page 13 of the 2012-06-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
THE owners of a missing ferret in Ennis say they have been plagued by pranksters since they launched a poster campaign to find the animal.
Daniel Drzeweecke and his girlfriend have appealed for help from people in Ennis to help find their pet ferret – Ceara – who has been missing in the town for the past two weeks.
Daniel says the couple has received numerous helpful phonecalls from members of the public.
However, pranksters have rung the couple with false sightings. They also received a call from a person who claimed they had found their beloved pet dead.
Daniel explains, “We have got many different phonecalls, some prank calls. Sometimes it’s a joke or a prank.
“Once somebody called and said they had found the ferret dead. But it was actually only an old piece of clothing, a piece from a jacket.”
Ceara, who is microchipped, has been missing for the past two weeks since getting free while being brought for a walk near a fountain in the Mill Road area of Ennis.
The couple are asking anyone who sees Ceara not to be afraid to approach her.
Alternatively, they can contact Daniel on 085 1465752, Julija on 085 1316651, Egle on 085 1315841 or any local vet, pet shop or dog pound. Daniel says that any information is useful.
The couple have had Ceara for three years.
According to Daniel, ferrets are an increasingly popular pet.
Daniel has not given up hope of finding his ferret.
He explains, “I was talking to some other ferret owners and they say that ferrets go missing a lot.
“One person told me that their ferret was missing for a month before they found it again. They enjoy their freedom.
“They are not really a pet. They are able to live outdoors and kill their own food. She can handle the outdoors.” AS the switch to digital television gets closer, SAORVIEW targets half a million affected homes with onscreen message across RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, TG4 and TV3. Latest figures show there are 491,000 households with an estimated 800,000 television sets in Ireland that must switch to digital to avoid blank screens when the old analogue signal is switched off on October 24th, 2012. Starting this week, in a drive to ensure that affected homes know how to respond to the changeover, a brief on-screen message will appear at regular but infrequent intervals on sets receiving the old analogue TV signal. The message does not appear on sets already receiving a digital television signal. Almost a million households already subscribe to a digital service and therefore need take no action unless they choose to switch to the free SAORVIEW service. Commenting on the reason behind the on-screen caption, Mary Curtis, Director of Digital Switchover, SAORVIEW said: “Understandably, lots of people have been asking how they will know if they must get ready for SAORVIEW and digital television. The answer is straightforward. If you have an old analogue television and aerial, you will need to convert to digital otherwise you will lose your free Irish channels next October. By transmitting this message periodically on analogue sets, we hope to prompt viewers to take taking action sooner rather than later. SAORVIEW is available now so we are advising those affected not to wait until the last minute particularly as upgrading to RTÉ Two HD (High Definition) will make sports viewing more pleasurable this summer”, said Curtis.
The on-screen caption gives viewers the basic information they need to get SAORVIEW. As most will already have a UHF aerial, they simply need a SAORVIEW Approved settop box or a SAORVIEW Approved TV (which has the digital tuner built in). The caption also directs analogue viewers to the SAORVIEW website and call centre if they have any questions about getting SAORVIEW. Once sets have been upgraded to receive SAORVIEW, viewers can sit back and continue to enjoy Irish TV for free.
In addition to the caption, a date reminder “bug” will appear on these same TV sets. In welcoming this initiative Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, said “The ‘bug’ which those still using the analogue TV network see on the top left corner of their TV screens will appear until they switch to a digital TV network will allow us to make it very clear to them that they need to take action and change to a digital TV service if they are to avoid losing their TV signal on Wednesday 24th October. Along with the information booklet which will be delivered to every home in the country at the end of June, the introduction of the ‘bug’ to analogue TV screens is an important part of our communications campaign to encourage people to get informed and take action. These initiatives, along with the decision by RTE, TG3 and TG4 to introduce reminder captions to analogue TV viewers, will serve to remind people that they need to move to a digital TV service of their choosing in advance of Wednesday October 24th and that they can take action now. We hope that analogue TV viewers will understand the reasons for the introduction of these devices and that it will prompt them take action sooner, rather than later”.
The date reminder in the top lefthand corner of the screen will be permanently on screen in the countdown to analogue switchover date, October 24th.