Owosso, Mich.  The ferret (Kelly) was turned over to authorities in order to
secure the release of her owner Ralph.  Ralph is indeed a heart patient who
is in-line awaiting a heart transplant but the authorities couldn't care
less.  The judge in this case refused bond regardless of circumstances until
such time as the ferret was turned in.
 
Here's the question, since Michigan Department of Community Health claim
they are only doing what is best in the interest of public health, what
about a little concern for Ralph's health????  There was no concern shown
for him, only for the "victim", a little boy who didn't even wait for
permission to touch the ferret.  So we sacrifice another ferret to ignorance.
 
In the course of the Owosso incident, Saginaw County euthanized and tested
two more ferrets.  That's right folks, three ferrets that we know of in six
days, and if you look at the Michigan statistics over the last two years
that's the average.  Surprise surprise surprise, none of them, NOT A SINGLE
ONE OF THEM, has tested positive.
 
In a lengthy conversation with several Animal Control People I've found that
the problem is that Animal Control is regulated by the Michigan Department
of Agriculture who has sent this memo to all Animal Control Departments:
 
This was issued in April of 1995 and is considered as current,
 
Since the recent legalization of ferrets in Michigan, the Michigan
Department of Public Health (MDPH) has received many telephone calls from
physicians, veterinarians, local health departments and animal control
agencies asking what needs to be done with a ferret that has bitten a
person.  The MDPH has not changed its policy regarding ferret bites to
people.  When a ferret bites a person, we advise that the animal be
immediately euthanized and tested for rabies, regardless of its rabies
vaccination status.  In contrast to dogs and cats, the period of rabies
virus shedding in the ferret, prior to onset of clinical signs, has not been
determined for this species.  Thus, no post-bite observation period has been
established for the ferret.  Informing ferret owners of this policy may help
to avoid confusion if a bite occurs.  As a reminder, ferret bites should be
reported to the local health jurisdiction where the bite occurred, and if
different, the local health jurisdiction where the (human) patient resides.
 
I called the Department of Agriculture to verify this and after many
transfers and long waits was told that the KSU rabies studies aren't
recognized yet and neither is the other study done\sanctioned by CDC because
Dr. Rupercht hasn't "published" the results in peer review journals to date
which needs to be done for them to be scientifically accepted.  WHAT A
CROCK!!!!  Of course, the bat rabies studies aren't done and Dept.  of Ag.
isn't going to "take any chances".
 
My problem with this whole mess is that we have a LAW these people are
supposed to follow and enforce, but once again they enforce "POLICY" and
ignore the law, or pervert the LAW so badly that POLICY takes over.  In the
words of Pat Wright, "LEGALIZE FERRETS, OUTLAW POLITICIANS"
 
On a personal note.  Those of you who continue to send me hate mail, our
children appreciate reading your "colorful" language and it's appreciated by
all of us, my delete key works quite well when I'm the one on the keyboard,
it's unfortunate that our children (who also get E-mail from around the
world as a summer project for school) must view some of the junk you send
through.
 
Robert Jacobs
[Posted in FML issue 2008]