Remember Lucy Gwin who was being threatened with being thrown out of
the Washington Hotel in Washington, PA (as were several people with
service dogs) because the hotel owner and manager decided (after
letting the handicapped tenants make a lot of improvements with their
own personal funds) that they were not going to allow service animals
any longer?
Lucy Gwin uses ferrets to tell her when she is about to have a grande
mal seizure. They do such as great job at it that she is able to take
her meds in time to avoid those dangerous seizures. Nor is she the only
person who uses ferrets for this task.
Now the Bush Administration is planning the change the service animal
rules in ways that would ban the use of ferrets as recognized service
animals.
Ferrets are not the only animals to be banned. The list even includes
the primates trained to help people who do not have working hands.
This is happening at a time when the aging baby boomers and those with
severe injuries from the current wars are increasing the need for
service animals.
It makes sense to better define WHAT services are performed, but
certainly ferrets who allow people to avoid further brain injury from
continuing seizures and physical injury from the falls due to such
seizures are clearly performing a health function.
See:
http://reason.com/blog/show/127069.html
and
<http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/other/121377794413490.xml&coll=2>
It does not make sense to limit the type of animal performing the
chores, but to instead define better what chores are done. Ferrets can
make excellent seizure-alert animals and take to that chore naturally.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/http://ferrethealth.org/archive/http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.htmlhttp://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/http://www.ferretcongress.org/http://www.trifl.org/index.shtmlhttp://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 6006]
