HSUS FERRET FILE, received 8/8/95 at STAR*
 
Pages = 247
77 pages of ferret articles, plus two copies of CA DHS manual (65 pages each)
and 40 pages of duplicate information.
 
Of the 77 pages of ferret articles:
14 pages covered 12 articles featuring ferrets as the subject,
36 pages were documenting 8 bite incidents not covered in the CA DHS manual,
27 pages made up 9 official correspondence letters or articles on ferrets.
 
All bite reports were fom 1998 or earlier, with the exception of one from
1991.  Either the HSUS does not maintain this file or there has been only one
ferret bite case in the 1990's.  (Sorry, we know that is not true, but it
does show that ferrets are not a high priority with the HSUS - or does it?)
 
My notes:
1986 articles featuring Nancy Blaney, assistant director of HSUS Captive
Wildlife Dept = "On the other side of the question is the HSUS, which is
drafting legislation to submit to the 46 states that allow ferrets as pets,
asking that they be banned for sale."  January 25, 1986
AND
"For assistance in prohibiting ferret ownership in your community, contact
the HSUS captive wildlife department."  March 1986
 
Notice that ferrets WERE covered as captive wildlife - they are NOW covered
under companion animals.
 
Several of the pages had no dates or publication names.
 
13 articles and a 6 page transcript from a news station were on the same
story of a 6 month old bitten by a ferret in August, 1988.
 
John Dommers, who used to be Director of the New England Regional Office for
HSUS and attempted to ban ferrets in CT in 1987, is now in CA and supports
the ferret groups setting up booths at the HSUS Animal Care Expos (see, we
can win a few over...)
 
The majority of anti-ferret articles revolve around publication of the April
1988 issue of JAMA.
 
the 1980's reasons for banning ferrets:
 
no rabies vaccine = resolved now
 
"attacks" on infants and small children = no animal should be allowed
unsupervised contact with children, especially children under the age of 3
years.
 
nocturnal animals = absolutely not true
 
threat to wildlife and poultry = absolutely not true
 
destructive  = only to houseplants and carpeting under doors.
 
The CA DHS paper on PET EUROPEAN FERRETS: A HAZARD TO PUBLIC HEALTH, SMALL
LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE, December 1988 lists 64 "Unprovoked ferret attacks on
infants and young children" and 388 attacks on older children and adults.  I
added 8 more bite reports based on the information in the provided "file".
 
I will review the material tomorrow to rate the "severity" of the incidents,
under what circumstances they occurred (even the CA DHS report states
"...91% of the victims were attacked while sleeping or lying down." Who in
their right mind allows any animal to run loose at night while a baby is in
the house?
 
Anyway - there is a lot more to look at and I will keep you all posted,
though you may not hear from me tomorrow - I have two appointments to show
ferrets to prospective adopters.
 
Pam Grant
STAR* Ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 1280]