Dear Ferret Folks-

According to the data that "Anonymous" posted yesterday--

There were certainly credible attempts made by Carolina Ferrets to
obtain a USDA license, and several failures to acquire it. I do not
know if one officially "applies" for one of these licenses BEFORE a
successful inspection, or AFTER. It is one of those fine legal points
that may allow Kathy Johnson to assert honestly that she has never
*applied* for a USDA license only because she has never passed a
licensing inspection. The formal application may require a favorable
inspection result right on it. Someone knows the answer to the before
or after question in the USDA licensing process. I do not. But
certainly, the attempt to acquire a license was made with repeated
requests for the USDA Application Package, and repeated failed
inspections.

In the data that "Anonymous" posted that purports to have been obtained
from the Freedom of Information act there are two separate requests for
an "Application Package" for a USDA license from "Customer # 14618. "
This I.D. number is consistently identified in numerous instances in
the paperwork "Anonymous" posted as one belonging to Kathy Jordan and
Carolina Ferrets.

One Application Package Request is dated from January of 2003, and does
not note what class of license is being requested. The USDA sent a form
letter in that same month and year to Customer # 14618 noting that the
request for an Application Package had been received, and goes on to
outline the licensing process in detail. It refers to the necessity
of passing an inspection prior to licensing. On the top of that form
letter there is a rubber stamped notation that reads "Cancelled 15
Jan. 04."

The second Application Package Request from Customer #14618 is dated
only "11-" and indicates a request for a class B license, An identical
form letter from the USAD noting that the Request had been received is
dated Dec. 16, 2005. I infer that the USDA letter refers to a request
made in November of 2004, the "11-" notation in the date line. On the
top of the second USDA form letter is hand written "cancelled
11-29-06."

In a December 2007 write up of a repeat official inspection performed
for licensure (is this the *third* discrete attempt to acquire the
license? Not sure) the inspector noted that <Name Deleted> :

"repeatedly stated that she did not fall under the jurisdiction of
animal control or the USDA because she was exempt because this was an
agricultural facility. When <Inspector's Name Deleted> pointed out
that the agricultural distinction was made for animals used in the
production of food and fiber and asked <Name Deleted> if that was what
she was using her animals for. She stated that she was not. When asked
if she was a distributor she said she had sold some ferrets to someone
in Florida and had put on her website that she hoped to become a
distributor in 2008 when she passed the USDA inspection."

Apparently she did not. Instead, in February of 2008 the USDA served
her with failure to "Obtain an USDA lisence while operating as a
dealer."

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 6806]