I was visiting the home of the Ottawa Ferret Association (OFA) on Friday.
A call came in from the Humane Society concerning a ferret that was to be
picked up on Monday. While at the Humane Society, the ferret had bitten a
young boy who stuck his finger in the cage. The ferret supposedly had been
found in a warehouse. The Health Department was going to put the ferret
down to be tested for rabies on Monday. Carl Clarke of the OFA was able to
obtain further information concerning the person who had delivered the
"stray". As it turns out, the ferret was found eight weeks earlier in
Toronto (400km's distance) and brought to the person in Ottawa who
eventually dumped the ferret as a 'just-found stray'. This person
had called the OFA a few weeks earlier and asked for advice on this new
ferret, and was told to call back if they needed more help. This person
already had one ferret!
 
Carl Clarke also contacted Agriculture Canada, and was told that they had
never had a positive rabies case in a ferret.
 
Carl spoke to the parties involved, and with the information he had was
able to get them to agree to a ten day quarantine.
 
Fortunately, the parents of the boy were not demanding the testing of the
ferret. Otherwise, it may not have ended on a happy note.
 
After all the disappointment in MD, a ferret was saved in Ottawa. Three
Cheers for Carl. Three Jeers for the irresponsible person who dumped the
ferret when other options were offered.
 
George
 
P.S. Awful grammar, diction, spelling, etc, but I'm really tired and
wanted to type this tonight.
[Posted in FML issue 1113]