To each their own, I suppose. The 'anon' advice comes from someone who
is involved with rescues in California. I have heard of rental cars
being emptied and I have seen moving trucks being searched. They do
take things seriously, and if you have *anything* out that looks
suspicious, they will search. And yes, it is paranoid - any time I
put ferrets into a situation that could possibly kill them, I will be
extremely paranoid!
As far as plates, I meant if you rent a car with California plates,
you would have a reason for where you were - depending on what entry
you go to, it would be that you went to Vegas for the weekend, Reno,
or Tahoe. They are so used to people going back and forth at the
Reno/Tahoe/Truckee one that California plates just are waved back in.
That was only if you were pretending you weren't actually moving (for
example, you just are traveling across with the ferrets in the car and
look like you took the weekend off for a Vegas or Tahoe trip), and
someone else was driving the rental truck in a separate trip. To the
person who was questioned more with California - we've never been
questioned except for once with Cali plates, and even then it was
"where are you coming from". We just have a parking ticket validated
from a casino up there. Thinking more about it, Reno and the Las Vegas
checkpoints are going to have more tourist travel for where you are
coming through - so that likely plays a part in what I've experienced.
If you cross without a credible story and hit when they have an itch
to find something, that's a different matter. Using a moving truck, we
were asked many more questions than any time we had California plates.
Do you really need to go crazy like this? You're absolutely right -
probably not. Would I still do it with California plates? Yes, but that
is just me. And as far as the "tailing", I meant if you actually see
a cop car following you or any car that is acting odd. It all sounds
crazy until you lose your kids. If you're going to avoid a checkpoint
that you're supposed to go through, it's a big deal, and if you look
out of place for the town, it can be obvious depending on which route
you're taking to avoid it. Just be careful...police have quotas, they
have jobs to do. Not every cop is a donut-eating, careless officer who
just ignores the law or avoids doing work. There are passionate cops as
well and of course, even the seemingly caring ones who still "have to
do their job" and report the ferrets to animal control. It's happened
time and time again. If cops were so lazy, no one would be pulled over
for fix-it tickets, or speeding 5 miles an hour over the speed limit,
or for smaller, silly things that they use to get you on the side of
the road.
We've have seen moving trucks pulled over before being emptied, twice.
If you are moving and they take a look in the back, and they see patio
furniture, for example, you can get pulled over and searched - the
Agricultural stations aren't just sitting there for nothing. They
didn't just rebuild the station for fun so you have to drive under it
completely and cannot bypass it in Truckee. There are cops that do
loops on the "bypass" if you take the time to look around the Truckee
area. Perhaps not at other station areas. They take things seriously if
they see a 'threat'. If they didn't, they would just let people turn
around who have ferrets when they are entering the state (something
that is very rare for them to do and I've never actually confirmed
that it's ever happened, but I've heard of it). There are a lack of
volunteers that go and get these confiscated animals - including much
more than just ferrets. When they get the urge to look they don't
hesitate. There are times when these stations are not understaffed
and they don't always just wave people through so easily.
And as far as the danger once in Cali, in some more active places in
California, you do have ferret clubs that pick up from local shelters.
However, many times, the shelters act like they don't have the phone
numbers of the pickup people or clubs or otherwise drop the ball, and
the ferrets die before they can get picked up due to stress. This has
happened already last year - they had several numbers and had called
many times before - yet this ferret died after a few days after the
hold time, and not a soul was ever called (and the ferret was
completely healthy before this)....having ferrets in California is not
a fun ride. Breathe a word of your ferrets to the wrong person, who
spills the beans to someone else who cares, and one phone call can have
authorities in your home. A child told her classmates she had one one
year; they came and got the ferret soon after since someone heard about
it. California citizens often have crazy stories and will fight you
tooth and nail that ferrets are wild, horrible creatures that eat our
wildlife among other things. I've done the education events. There are
some incredibly passionate anti-ferret people here. However, due to the
fact that they are illegal, there are also wonderful people who you can
meet through clubs or organizations, who will help you.
After being involved in the rescue, I've never seen an instance where
they have a valid search warrant, but I've never heard of an owner
denying entry, either, so technically the searches were done legally
once consent was obtained. There have been people who downplay the
danger such as veterinarians, "I wouldn't worry about it". But it is
something to worry about. If your home is burglarized, you have a house
fire, or you report a domstic dispute - be prepared. Hide them. Owners
often report the cops "act" like they care, but say they're just doing
their job. Even when you take your ferrets to the vet, customers have
called and reported ferrets - cover them up while you're there. It
sucks. It sucks not sharing the wonderful animals with other people.
But it only takes one phone call to have the ferret removed from you.
And if the animal control or shelter that receives them is not run by
a ferret friendly staff, your ferret is out of luck. Either through
neglect and dying from stress, or from ignorance, ferrets die in
shelters still, put to sleep or not, unless some kind hearted person
decides to call the right people. There have been *many* cases of
ferrets being smuggled out from animal controls before they are
recorded in the system, being held by someone who works there, when
they knew the ferret policy was to be put to sleep. Thank goodness
these people exist.
For my area, most rescues we've been involved with were not dropoffs -
they involved a neighbor, or anonymous person, reporting ferrets and
authorities came, and when landlords or maintenance people reported
the ferrets. Second is just random dropoffs or having found the ferret
outside, and third is being pulled over with the ferret in the car
(obviously for something else!).
The bottom line is the person who had been asking for advice and
boarding, was contacted with two ferret clubs. Maybe they were afraid
to call the numbers or email the clubs despite their websites? I am not
sure. I did not receive another reply after I asked if they had got in
touch with the people in Sacramento and Hayward. That is pretty much
all I can do.
[YY]
[Posted in FML 7493]
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