Ferrets!

[Judilyn]

YOu'd be suprised at how many ferrets there are in CA. There are even some vets in CA who will treat ferrets, even though the CA gov't thinks they are wild animals. My mother had nine there at one point. There are also organized protests in which ferret owner take their ferrets with them. The sad thing is, there was one instance where a man accidently scratched his knuckle on a ferret's tooth while petting him. A health department official overheard him laughing about it with the ferret's owner and confiscated it, against the wishes of the elderly man who had been scratched. After a long court battle, the ferret was decapitated to be tested for rabies. (Ferrets as a rule are not carriers of rabies). He tested negative.

That is so sad!

 

[Myah]

I believe that California law calls for immediate decapitation instead of a waiting period like some other states have. Many ferret owners have tried giving the state information about how ferrets are domesticated (not counting the endangered black-footed ferret) and have been for centuries. None of it has worked.
Kodo, the ferret that was decapitated, had nationwide support. It was very saddening.

 

[Hyena Klown]

YOu'd be suprised at how many ferrets there are in CA. There are even some vets in CA who will treat ferrets, even though the CA gov't thinks they are wild animals. My mother had nine there at one point. There are also organized protests in which ferret owner take their ferrets with them. The sad thing is, there was one instance where a man accidently scratched his knuckle on a ferret's tooth while petting him. A health department official overheard him laughing about it with the ferret's owner and confiscated it, against the wishes of the elderly man who had been scratched. After a long court battle, the ferret was decapitated to be tested for rabies. (Ferrets as a rule are not carriers of rabies). He tested negative.

i couldnt risk sumthing like that happening to my ferret. besides, if i had brought him here, it would have been by road, not air, and im sure at sum checkpoint or toll they wouldve found him and confiscated him. (we travelled all the way from ohio to cali)

 

[Im4HimiHs]

It is just a shame that the law enforcement agencies do not understand that in the United States ferrets have almost been wiped out of existance. Almost all of the ferrets which are here are domestic. The few programs that are trying to reintroduce ferrets back into the wild are still on the edge of extinction.

Unfortunately people get ferrets thinking they are like a cat, and a couple months down the road, after a major learning experience, they end up getting rid of them. We have had to rescue over a dozen and most was due to the fact that the owner was tired of all the attention the animal needed. In the case of two, it was a medical condition that the owner wasn't prepared for and didn't have the money to deal with it. In the case of another, she had bitten someone cause they almost tore her toe off. After her rabies quarantine, she was scheduled for termination. We just couldn't see her being killed because she bit someone in self defense.

Sorry about ranting here. Ferrets can be such a joy, but there is alot of responsibility that comes with them.

Just in the ferrets we have had in our household, we have seen them blind, deaf, adrenal gland desease, insuloma, cataracts, renal failure, cancer, internal blockages, bad teeth, and most common, they catch our colds.

On the lighter side, they will fall asleep in your lap, hug you, kiss you, play with you, and make you laugh.

I would just suggest that if someone was considering getting one of these special creatures, that they seriously do reasearch before getting one. There are many resources on the web, in magazines, and in books on ferrets now.

 

[IvoryRain]

I'm new to ferrets and started a small forum about them if anyone is interested. I'm having a hard time finding good places to poist about them so I made my own. Here it is:

http://mustelidferret.proboards26.com/index.cgi