Midway thru the Olympics on Sunday the 28th of August I was approached by
a gentleman who asked me if I had a permit to put on a ferret event in the
public park known as Sayre's Park on Lake Washington's lakeshore.  I told
him, "No, I didn't know that one was required."
 
Unfortunately a permit is required and must be obtained in writing from
the Seattle City government agency division of recreation and parks far in
advance of the planned event.  Unfortunately the requirements to be
satisfied are proof of a $1,000,000 liability insurance policy and a $40.00
paper-work fee to be paid to the recreation and parks department.
 
Failure to meet these requirements will result in arrest, booking and a
charge of "intentional trespass."  My call to the Seattle Police Department
to find out what the fine would be for being found guilty of this charge
was not answered by the police spokesman I talked to.  My thought was that
it would be possibly cheaper to not get the million dollar insurance and
not pay the paper-work fee, but instead get arrested and just pay the fine -
whatever it is (assuming it would be the more economical way to go.)  The
police spokesman told me that if I did that they would be there waiting for
me and would arrest me upon my arrival and would disband all ferret owners
who showed up, by order or by force if necessary.
 
I currently have a call in to my State Farm agent to find out what the cost
would be for one day's coverage of liability of $1,000,000.  My agent was
astounded at this requirement and needs to contact the home office in order
to give me a quote on the cost of the premium I must pay for this coverage.
 
The parks/recreation official I talked to also said that they could not
permit ferrets to be in the water of the lake for the swimming competitions
without the approval of the Seattle department of public health.  I called
this government agency and was informed by the city veterniarian that
ferrets in the water would not constitue a threat to the public health of
the citizens of Seattle and was informed that she would issue a "letter of
permit" to the parks and recreation department if they so required.
 
Apparently the Seattle City attorney and the city council have the need to
protect the city from lawsuit in the event a ferret sould bite/scratch
someone and that person should sue the city for damages.  In the event this
happened, the city would look to the insurance company to pay damages.
 
So if the city of Seattle is fearful of the possible action of a ferret,
how fearful should a ferret club or ferret organization be in the event a
similar untoward event were to occur during the course of their event,
including a ferret show?  Would the organizers be liabile for thousands of
dollars of damages assessed by a jury or judge?  How exposed would any
national ferret organization be if they sanctioned/sponsored a ferret show
or olympics?  One may ask if theAmerican Ferret Association, including its
president and officers, would come to the rescue of any ferret organization
it sanctioned or sponsored in the event that particular ferret club is an
uwilling defendent in a lawsuit?  I think the answer to that is nil.
 
One may ask too, if there are persons out there who would allow themselves
purposefully to be bitten or otherwise harmed by any ferret in an organized
ferret event just for the excuse they need to get, say a $10,000 jury award
for damages suffered from a "viscous" ferret.  Are there people like that?
The point is, who wants to be the victim of such litigous persons?
 
kust recently it has been brought to my attention that a local ferret vet,
who also conducts a ferret frolic of sorts in Kirkland Washington, also
buys liability insurance since his veterinary business is decidedly at risk
in sponsoring and having his employees run the public ferret frolics in
Kirkland's Marina park.  And he's a heck of a lot smarter than I'm.
 
Finally, my attorney has prepared for me a document titled: Assumption
of Risk Waiver and Release of Liability.  Every person who comes on my
property for any reason involving ferrets is required to sign this
document.  It's typically called a CYA document.  I would recommend it
for any ferret shelter doing business with the public.
 
Edward Frettchenvergnuegen Lipinski,  possibly the former
Frettchenlustbarkeitsfuehrer.
[Posted in FML issue 2366]