A well mannered dog is a faithful companion, and will give an equally well
mannered master a full measure of unconditional affection.  A healthy cat of
adequate size is one half of a good pair of slippers, and when allowed to
mature to a size 12D, expects unconditional attention from its well trained
"owner".
 
The ferret spirit is virtually indominatable, and they are too busy being
ferrets to give us all of their affection.  It is for this reason we need
more than one to make the arrangement emotionally satisfying.
 
They coexist with us as tenents and fellow travelers as we agree to give
them room and board in our homes and hearts.  They take a long time to bond,
and we must work at it, but it is as if we instinctively know it will be
worth the effort.
 
I suspect that the kind of person who can love and keep a ferret has had a
room in his or her heart that was always there, fully furnished and waiting.
For such people, a ferret is a fuzzy missing piece of the human psyche.
 
Hi ... we are the Geralds - Doug, Sue, and Penny (Human side) - Lori, Tory,
and Shadow (Ferret side), and we have a bit of a problem.
 
We live in Anchorage, Alaska, where there is currently a School District ban
on having ferrets in the schools, or on the school grounds.  The ban has
been in effect for at least 18 years, and not a soul in administration
remembers why it was put in place.  The head of nursing thought the problem
might have been the lack of a rabies vaccine, but was not sure.  I do know
that some years back (pre-1985), Alaska was one of the states that banned
ferrets outright, but that ruling was overturned in a law suit brought by a
pet owner.  I have looked for the case number, etc.  with no luck.
 
The person currently resopnsible for writing the policy manual for the
district stated that she would be open to a review if we could show good
reason why there should be no ban.
 
I am looking for both specific and general information on the subject, and
have been following FML for about a week now with great interest.  I would
like to know:
 
  1. The name of the party that brought the Alaska suit, or the case number.
  2. Information concerning the development and acceptance of the rabies
     vaccine.
  3. Information regarding similar situations in other locales, and how they
     were resolved.
 
If this is too specific for FML, my address is [log in to unmask]
 
Thank you so much.
 
Doug, Sue, Penny - Lori, Tory, and Shadow
[Posted in FML issue 1477]