Rachel,
>I would be appalled if I was eating in a restaurant where the person next
>to me had an animal in a bag.  It's unsanitary, even if the ferrets don't
>touch the food.
 
Technically, it's not unsanitary.  You feel that it is unsanitary and I
understand that.  Many people have that unconscious "phobia".
 
I promise, you'll never know my fuzzies are there.  I'll be there to eat,
not to see how many people I can offend, or how much rule stretching I can
get away with.
 
I agree with the health codes and the reasons for their establishment.
They are there to prevent diseased animals from spreading illnesses via
food served to the public.  You are, in fact, in much more danger of being
affected by mice & roaches inhabiting restaurants than from a ferret that
is cleaner than many human children and less likely to spread the flu than
you are.
 
I do not advocate simply turning a ferret loose in your car and taking off
to wherever without a clue.  It requires TRAINING.  If you are unwilling to
be trained, you should absolutely confine your ferrets to a carrier.  It's
really that simple.  I have found no middle ground that enables a ferret
safe freedom in a vehicle without mutual training.
 
There should be no reason for a ferret to scream in a vehicle... you should
never release a ferret into an un-ferret proofed area.... Should I have put
that in ALL CAPS?  Many people seemed to have missed that very critical
point.  I'll try to emphasize such things a little more next time.
 
And, just as a final note... my ferrets (personal ferrets, not shelter
ferrets) are a thousand times better behaved in the car than my two sons
ever were... and in restaurants too, for that matter.  They sleep all the
way there and back and while I'm eating.  LOL
 
Debi Christy
Ferrets First Foster Home
[Posted in FML issue 3035]