Yesterday I posted about the ferret than severely bit a month old infant
girl in Cleveland.  It was heavily reported on by local TV news stations
last evening, some of which cast the ferret in a negative light.
 
The ferret, a light silver mitt, is in the custody of the Cleveland City
kennel.  We do not know what it's fate will be, some news reports say it
will be killed and tested for rabies, others say it will be quarantined, or
that no decision has been made yet.
 
I have faxed the press release below to Channels 3, 5, 8 and 19/43, the
Cleveland Plain Dealer and two other local papers.  I was interviewed over
the phone by the Plain Dealer this morning, and Jean of Ferrets Unlimited
Ferret Shelter in Cleveland had a crew from Ch 19 interview her this
afternoon.
 
Please feel free to call the stations and ask them to provide balanced
reporting, and to express your concerns about the welfare of the ferret,
who should not be made to pay for the negligence of the parents.
 
WUAB-43/WOIO-19 800-929-0132, fax 216-436-5460
WKYC-3 216-574-6397, fax 216-344-3314
WEWS-5 216-431-5555, fax 216-431-3666
WJW-8 216-431-8888, fax 216-391-9559
Cleveland Plain Dealer 800-688-4802, fax 216-999-6354
 
Linda Iroff
North Coast Ferret Shelter
http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html
 
---------------
Press Release      For Immediate Release
 
Ferret groups urge balanced treatment in bite incident
 
February 21, 1998, Oberlin, OH.  A recent incident in which a ferret
inflicted multiple bite wounds on a Cleveland infant has raised concerns
about the safety of the domestic ferret as a pet.  Local and national ferret
groups are calling for a balanced treatment by health officials and the news
media of this increasingly popular pet.
 
Ferrets have teeth, say enthusiasts, and like any animal, can bite.  But the
vast majority make safe, affectionate pets.  No animal, they say, should be
left alone with a helpless infant.  Older children and adults can easily
fend off the small animal but very young children cannot defend themselves,
whether it is from a dog, cat, ferret, gerbil or parakeet.  Ferret experts
recommend that the pets be kept in a secure cage when playtime cannot be
supervised by an older child or adult.
 
Statistics show that ferrets, which generally weigh from 2 to 4 pounds, are
far less likely to bite and cause serious damage than many other pets,
especially dogs.  Statewide in Ohio in 1995, almost 19,000 dog bites were
reported to local health departments, compared to only 27 ferret bites,
according to a report by the Ohio Department of Health.  While the number of
ferrets in Ohio is unknown, industry experts estimate there are 5 to 10
million ferrets in this country, compared to about 50 million dogs.
 
Ferrets that do bite usually do so because they are victims themselves of
neglect or abuse.  Even the most severe biters can usually be rehabilitated,
says Linda Iroff, director of the North Coast Ferret Shelter in Lorain
County.  "We had one ferret come into the shelter we called Devil Girl, she
bit so hard," said Iroff.  "After 3 months of love and patience, she became
as sweet and gentle a pet as you could wish for."
 
Another popular misconception is that ferrets are wild animals.  In fact,
they have been domesticated for at least 2500 years, and no longer exist in
wild populations.  They are ill-suited to survival on their own, say ferret
experts, and will usually die within a few days if they become lost outside.
 
Nor is rabies a threat from ferrets.  Only 6 cases of rabid ferrets have
been reported nationwide since 1989, compared to 1100 rabid dogs and 1700
rabid cats in that same time period.  Recently completed viral shedding
studies show that the ferret will not pass on the virus in its saliva
without showing clear symptoms within a few days.  This has led the Center
for Disease Control to revise their 1998 Compendium of Animal Rabies Control
to recommend that ferrets be treated exactly the same as dogs and cats in
bite cases, i.e., a 10-day quarantine is sufficient to insure the safety of
the bite victim.  Dr. Kathleen Smith, Public Health Veterinarian for the
Ohio Department of Health, has asked all local health departments to follow
these new guidelines in handling ferret bite cases, rather than killing the
animal to test its brain for signs of rabies.
 
Ferret enthusiasts around the country who learned of the incident through
the Internet expressed concern for the young child.  But they are asking
public health officials to not blame the ferret for the mistakes of the
parents.  After a 10-day quarantine, they say, the ferret should be given a
chance to be rehabilitated and found a new, loving home.
 
For more information, contact Linda Iroff, North Coast Ferret Shelter,
440-774-3633.
[Posted in FML issue 2225]