On Monday morning, May 11, 1998, a ferret of unknown name, sex, color and
origin was put to death in Lake County Ohio to test for rabies, in spite of
a promise by the state of Ohio and local health departments to follow the
new Compendium guidelines.
Saturday, a woman and her husband were visiting a park in Willoughby Hills,
east of Cleveland, when they were approached by a ferret. It seemed
friendly and well cared for. The man handled the ferret without incident,
but it nipped his wife on the ankle, once lightly, and once hard enough to
draw blood.
Concerned that the ferret belonged to someone, they took it home and put it
in a large trash can with mesh over the top. They went door to door in the
neighborhood to see if anyone knew who it belonged to. The woman went to a
doctor to get a tetnus shot, and was told she should have the ferret tested
for rabies. Unable to find anyone who could tell them what to do, they
turned to ferret over to a local animal clinic.
This morning, Terri, the couple's daughter, called me, having finally gotten
my number from another ferret owner. I immediately called the vet's office,
but it was too late. Lake County Health Department had already given them
the order, and the ferret had been killed.
I was outraged! Last summer a ferret named Cocoa had been killed by this
same county after biting someone, in spite of efforts by many fmlers to save
him. <http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/memorium.html> And after the new
Compendium guidelines were announced, I spoke with Ed Binic of Lake Co
Health, and he assured me they would follow these guidelines in the future.
So I called him again. Turns out they had a convenient loophole: the
Compendium says that a "stray or unwanted dog, cat or ferret" may be killed
for testing immediately. "We don't want to have to house an animal at
taxpayer expense for 10 days," he said, claiming once again his options were
limited by policy. "Well we would be glad to provide the quarantine for
any unclaimed ferrets!" I said.
He jumped at the offer, no doubt wishing to avoid another barrage of faxes
and phone calls. I should send him a letter on the shelter's letterhead,
offering to provide the quarantine, and he would make it part of the
county's policy and make sure everyone knew about it. Of course, he said,
no matter how detailed a procedure you have, sometimes circumstances don't
allow you to follow them, like if we can't get a hold of you. Fine I said,
I'll give you contacts for the two other area shelters (Jean Caputo-Lee and
Bev Fox).
Of course, now I kick myself for not thinking of this before hand. But I
will be sure that other local health departments and animal control agencies
know we are willing to bear the expenses of housing "stray or unwanted"
ferrets for 10 days or forever if necessary. (I just got off the phone with
Lorain County Health, and former adversary Jim Boddy was happy to agree, and
even put my name and phone number in his roledex under "F" for ferret!)
I had hoped no more ferrets would die needlessly in Ohio, but I guess I was
overly optimistic. But we will slowly close the loopholes.
Sukie has been urging people to contact their local health departments, vets
and animal control agencies to make sure they are aware of and will comply
with the new Compendium. Let me add to that a suggestion that you inform
them of local shelters that are willing to provide for the quarantine, and
that no ferrets are "unwanted"!
Linda Iroff
North Coast Ferret Shelter West
"The Raisin Retreat"
http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html
[Moderator's note: I don't understand how it's such as "taxpayer expense"
to house a ferret for 10 days compared to the cost of taking it to a vet,
killing it, packing the remains in ice, shipping it, doing the expensive
assay test, transmitting the results... BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 2305]
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