This link is to an article regarding the saving of wild American
black-footed ferrets...(More than half my 'FB friends-list' will enjoy
THIS article as well as, certainly, most of the Mailing List ) But as
a matter of fact, many of ferret shelters have gotten their 501-c-3
federal rating from as-much-as-anything, a misunderstanding by the
beuracracy of this act as applied to ferrets in the United States.
Because the paper-pushers in the federal departments lump all ferrets
with this endagered American wild species (however UNtrue that actually
is.) So that once any given applicant can show THAT they can handle
themselves as a shelter in their paper application, the Feds seem to
have a tendency to push the papers along under the Endangered Species
Act (really!) rather than recognizing the formerly European Domestic
ferret as-such and this mix-up is both easily recognized and also *I
think* a Very Large Part of the "why" of why beaureaucrats nearly
everywhere they're still stubbornly doing so are donkily-set against
re-categorizing the domestic ferret AS domestic rather than either
wild or exotic.

Yes, I KNOW it's a bore and a chore to still keep trying to set the
paper-pushers straight. BUT! IF you are a ferret shelter or sanctuary,
i'd found that it is good to keep your buttski's covered by obtaining
whatever goes for a wild-critter licensure in your state which I had
one of those for The Ferret & Dove Sanctuary, Inc. while it existed and
I was in charge of all ITS paperwork including licenses and forms. (I
had gotten a "License to posess" any critter or bird in my state that
excepted several kinds of endangered monkeys. And made sure that yearly
license was prominently displayed in our living room each year along
with the other form renewals. IN FACT JUST BEING A PRIVATE OWNER of a
domestic ferret or several, it may not be a bad idea to bolster your
own right to keep your pets with a "License to Own or Posess" of this
nature. If I EVER got another car and could, therefore be able to look
after ferrets again (being , with a vehicle, able to ferry them to
any of several ferret vets in my town) then I would very certainly
re-obtain one of these handy-dandy licenses just because of the very
ambiguity of the "exotic-or-not" hoopla which seems to be knocked about
like a badminton birdie from one official or even animal cop to the
next with as-much chances of falling on either side of that judgemental
net.

Well, ANYway... Here is the article link .
<http://www.defendersblog.org/2012/12/how-the-esa-saved-the-black-footed-ferret/>

[Posted in FML 7669]