Hello FMLers,
 
For what it's worth, here's my reply to Dr. Cauble of the SPCALA.  Hope you
all had a good Christmas.
 
Jeanne
 
Dear Dr. Cauble,
 
I was very dismayed to read your post regarding Ferrets As Pets and the
California Law.  Most of the information you provided to the question of
ferrets as pets was either outdated or incorrect.
 
In the first place, Letters from all 50 State Departments of Fish and Game
verify that no population of feral ferrets exist in the United States.  The
Office of Technology Assessment also documented an absence of feral ferrets
in their publication, "Harmful Non-Native Species in the United States,"
published in 1993.  Domesticated animals that do exist in a feral state as
documented in this study include the dog, cat, horse, goat, pig, rabbit and
burro.  So, in fact, the ferret is one of the safest pets an individual can
choose if impact upon the environment is of concern to them.  Our bill also
mandates spay/neuter which, while having no effect upon the ferrets ability
to survive outdoors (few states have this requirement and still ferrets do
not establish themselves in the wild), we feel that it is part of
responsible pet ownership and hope it will open a door to other spay/neuter
requirements for animals that do go feral.
 
In addition, your reference to the position of the AVMA regarding ferrets is
almost 10 years out of date and I believe that the AMVA changed since then
to a position of neutrality regarding ferret ownership.  You should be able
to contact Dr. Dick Shumacher, Executive Director of the CVMA for
confirmation.  You should also know that the California Veterinary Medical
Assocition strongly supports ferret legalization and it would have been much
more of a balanced answer to have let your questioner know of the current
position of the CVMA on ferret legalization.
 
Also, the domesticated ferret is legal in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South
Carolina and Georgia.  In fact, California is the only state on the
continent to ban this animal by falsely classifying it as wild.
 
Finally, while all animals can carry and transmit disease, the ferret is one
of the preferred pets for anyone with asthma or a depressed immune system.
Ferrets have little to no dander and asthmatics who have trouble with cats
or dogs often choose ferrets as pets.  In addition, AIDS and cancer patients
often choose ferrets because they are small and unlike cats, cannot transmit
cat scratch fever, and are less likely to bite or scratch.  Also, I belive
you are mistaken about salmonella in ferrets.  While there have been cases
of salmonella contracted from reptiles, I have done ferret rescue here in
California for almost 8 years, and have never heard of a case of salmonella
in ferrets, or a transmission of this disease from ferrets.
 
Regarding the question of rabies, a USDA and California FDA approved ferret
vaccine, Imrab III, manufactured by Rhone Merieux, provides a 94.4% level of
protection for ferrets which exceeds the 86.7% protection required for cats
and dogs.  In essence, it is more effective in ferrets.  In addition, the
National Association of Public Health Veterinarians have just recommended
that ferrets in bite circumstances be managed exactly like cats and dogs (ie
quarentined) based on comprehensive shed time studies just completed by CDC
and Kansas State University.  Nationally states are moving quickly to
incorporate this important new information into their rabies compendiums and
recommending a 10 day quarentine for ferrets.
 
You can update some of your ferret knowledge by bookmarking various ferret
websites.  For legalization information, bookmark http://www.ferretnews.org.
For excellent rabies informtion, bookmark the League of Independent Ferret
Enthusiasts page at http://www.acmeferret.com/life.
 
As a veterinarian, Dr. Cauble, I am sure you will agree that with any
domesticated companion animal, good information is accurate information and
I hope you will spend the time needed to bring yourself up to date on the
true nature of domesticated ferrets.  They are a very delicate pet that
requires much supervision, and for that reason they are not a pet for
everyone.  But unlike the infomation contained in your response, the fact is
that people and the environment are a far greater threat to the ferret than
the other way around.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeanne Carley
Founder, Californians for Ferret Legalization
Director, The Ferret Education Foundation-- 501(c)3 Corporation
[Posted in FML issue 2171]