Hi.  I saw the post on using ferrets for pet therapy, and wanted to share
my experience.  I live in Massachusetts and wanted to get involved with
pet therapy.  I found two groups that do it.  The first is a dog group,
which only does dogs.  So, it was understandable when they said no to my
ferret.
 
The second group, however, allows lots of different types of animals, but
don't allow rabbits and gerbils and such, as gerbils might bite.  They
even have a pygmy goat in the program.  They said no to my ferret also.
The lady in charge has no experience with ferrets, so if I were to join,
it would have to be with an okay animal, then maybe I could convince her
that ferrets are okay.
 
So, then I decided to look up national organizations.  Delta is a national
group that certifies pets for therapy.  They will let you do any type of
domestic animal.  (Including rabbits and rats and such.) But, they don't
let you do wild or exotic animals.  What are exotic animals?  Snakes,
ferrets, and lizards.
 
So, the lesson I learned from it was, if you want to get involved, you
have to make your own opportunity, because groups just don't exist that
allow ferrets.
[Posted in FML issue 3747]