Can anyone tell us where to turn?
We (as a ferret shelter) were asked by a local Animal Control Officer (Karen
Burns) of the Bay County Animal Control to participate in an "Educational
Weekend" at a local mall. We agreed to this and put the proper insurance
procedures into place, checked and double checked our records here and with
our vet to be sure the ferrets we were taking had been properly vaccinated
and followed all the procedures step by step to be sure everything was
proper.
Friday started good. Tons and tons of people asking questions, picking up
literature, coming back for more information and all looked good. Then
about 7:30 in the evening a gentleman was asking questions about Kodo who I
was holding in my hands. He asked if he could pet him which I agreed to and
held Kodo out. Kodo's little head was resting in my left hand and his body
was in my right hand, he never moved. This 71 year old gentleman reached
out and accidently hit Kodo lightly in the nose. One of Kodo's little fangs
punctured a hole in the man's knuckle and he rather joked about he'd been
bitten which we both laughed off.
About 10 minutes later he comes back to our booth with Karen Burns (The
Animal Control Department Head) who has a small critter cage with her and a
"bite report" form. It seems this man was looking over a display of animal
bite victim pictures which were on display and casually mentioned to his
wife that his ferret bite wasn't all that bad when Mrs. Burns jumped on the
bandwagon and decided to file her report. She demanded I turn the "guilty"
ferret over to her. When I exhibited reluctance she stated either I give
her the one ferret or she would simply take all 14 that we had there. There
was no discussion, just stated as a matter of fact.
The "bite" report states in the description "Minor, No Stitches, Scratch Did
Bleed Victim put hand near ferret, bumped the ferret in the mouth and the
victim had broken skin" and for this she is going to euthanize our 11 month
old lover boy who's worst offence ever was giving us tons of kisses.
I've tried to deal rationaly with this leaving emotions out of it. I've
tried to ask her where it is written that the animal MUST be euthanized with
no response so I've surfed the net for 24 hours straight looking for it.
Mrs. Burns stated "we follow the guidelines set forth by the Center for
Disease Control in Atlanta Georgia", this is close to right as is dictated
by Michigan law Act No. 358 which states "A person who owns or harbors a
ferret that has potentially exposed a person or other animal to rabies by
biting, scratching, causing abrasions, or contaminating open wounds or
mucous membranes with saliva or other infectious material shall handle the
ferret in accordance with current published guidelines of the centers of
disease control and prevention".
Ok, I surfed off to the CDC website and downloaded the 1995, 96 & 97
guidelines. 1995 & 1996 both state in part "Prior vaccination of an animal
may not preclude the necessity for euthanasia and testing if the period of
virus shedding is unknown for that species. Management of animals other
than dogs and cats depends on the species, the circumstances of the bite,
and the epidermiology of rabies in the area" and the 1997 guidelines state
the same thing with three more criteria added to the end of it to include
"the biting animal's history, current health status, and potential for
exposure to rabies.".
Mrs. Burns has taken it upon herself, in my opinion, to skip this part of
the law and euthanize my pal Kodo. The only thing I found anywhere on the
web which even suggests euthanasia is an Advisory Committee to the Public
Health Service (ACIP) memo from 1991 which states "Exotic pets (including
ferrets) and domestic animals crossbred with wild animals are considered
wild animals by NASPHV and the Conference of State and Territorial
Epidemiologists because they may be highly susceptible to rabies and could
transmit the disease. Because the period of rabies virus shedding in these
animals is unknown, these animals should be killed and tested rather than
confined and observed when they bite humans."
This policy has nothing to do with CDC so I don't know if this is her
"authority" or not.
Now you have the whole story, I'm mourning the loss of our beloved Kodo and
left in limbo helpless, lost and confused. Beware that YOUR pet may give
someone a kiss and nick the skin, or lick an open scratch and someone else
see it. Ferrets are "legal" in Michigan, but they have no chance with
zellots like Mrs. Burns around. The way the law reads, she could very well
have confiscated the ferrets simply for kissing us.
Robert Jacobs
Rascal's Hideout
This rather lengthy story is my personal opinion and description of events
and not nesessarily the opinion of the shelter.
[Posted in FML issue 1922]
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