Do you recall how I was told by Christopher Colli at the Hackensack Health
Dept.  that if the young man with the ferret got a permit and if Fish, Game
and Wildlife let the town know that ferrets are not wild animals and safe
for residential areas that the case would be dropped?  Well, they later
decided that these things are NOT enough!  FG&W went out of their way to get
info to them and to process the permit, multiple residents went out of their
way working on this; we did everything the guy in the Hackensack Health
Dept.  said he wanted to drop the case and then he went ahead!  What a
foolish aggrivation, sadness, and waste of taxpayers' money.  The young man
is now looking into finding shelter for the ferret outside that city till
this is finished so it won't risk the health hazards of being in a pound,
and is checking into lawyers.  DO NOT TAKE A FERRET INTO HACKENSACK, N.J.
 
If anyone here knows any vets in Hackensack warn them.
 
FG&W is going to discuss sending letters to the three pet stores in that
town about what has been happening there so they won't have ferrets in the
town till this is straightened out.  Meanwhile, if you know any pet shops in
that town warn them as well.  (That may also get merchants mad at the town
and make the town rewrite their rules so that whenever FG&W lets the town
know that an animal type is safe depsite being in sections 7:25-4.2 and/or
7:25-4.6A that they should accept the OFFICIAL FG&W CLARIFICATION.  If you
are local to that area, do business in Hackensack, or have friends in
Hackensack, PLEASE, let the city government there know that this is waste
of their money and time and unfair to tax payers and voters.  The mayor is
John F. Zisa and the Chief Executive Officer is James Lacava; Hackensack
Town Hall, 65 Central Ave., Hackensack, N.J. 07062.  Let them know that
the person pressing this is Christopher Colli in their Health Dept.
 
Meanwhile, I have already gotten some information BUT HAVE TO GET MORE to
our Fish, Game and Wildlife so that when they finally have the time and
money to re-write the regular documents they can change the wording IF AND
WHEN (and only if and when) they find the information persuasive. It sounds
like in Hackensack if anything is in the exotic/undomesticated/wild section
of the documents they take that as automatic indication that this means the
animal is wild and unsafe whihc may mean for them that a clarification
can't be accepted, even though it had been thought one could be.  NOT a
good situation.  FG&W HAD gotten in touch with the folks in Hackensack and
let them know that inclusion in that section did NOT mean what they take it
to mean, but I guess their town regs are written that way.  Arrrgggghhhh!
I'm supposed to hear back from Hackensack this afternoon.
 
Anyway, Jeanne is going to be providing some information from reputable
and academic sources on the domesticity, bite stats, safety, and non-feral
aspects of ferrets and this will go our state FG&W after I copy it (and
I'll copy too for the young man's attorney -- wish he had one already
but he  didn't do that part, yet) so we hopefully will be able eventually to
convince FG&W to rewrite those sections when they can afford the cost and
manpower investment.  This takes REAL references, not popular texts.  Have
written Bob asking for such things, too.  IF ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE HAS
JOURNAL OR OTHER ACADEMIC REFERENCES ON THESE TOPICS, PLEASE, LET ME KNOW.
I am also interested if anyone can tell me where (book?) to photostat or
order (museum in Salisbury?  manor house?  address?) a copy of the painting
of Queen Elizabeth I with her ferret since sometimes a picture is worth a
thousand words -- in this case for saying that these critters are safe
enough fo rlong enough that a queen had them a few centuries ago.  If you
have cuddly ferret pictures don't neglect their influence on officials or
juries, BTW!)
 
I made an error in previous letters.  The KIND and HELPFUL person at FG&W
who set things into motion trying to help in Hackensack, and to whom we
need to get to get the academic references is Mr. Larry Herrighty (which is
pronounced the same way as the name Hrdy which I'd used as the mispelling
because of knowing Sarah Hrdy long ago).  That'll teach me...
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2406]