First, congratulations to Aileen for finding a nice ferret-friendly
apartment.  My SO and I have been hunting for quite a while for a place
that's attractive, roomy, has a convenient location, and will allow
ferrets.  We now have an application in for a "perfect place" and hope to
hear today or tomorrow, so please wish us luck.
 
I've been wondering about the legal ramifications of rental corporations
and managers allowing some pets and not others.  For instance, why are
cats OK but ferrets not?  Not that I don't love cats (I'm just allergic
to them), but I did have cats when I was younger, and they could be very
destructive to carpets and furnishings.  My ferrets have never created the
havoc the cats did.  The turn-downs I got while checking out rental housing
that had "Pets OK" or "Pets Negotiable" ads seemed based on rumor and
ignorance...no one who turned me down had ever actually met a ferret.
After awhile, I started calling places in non-office hours so I could give
an uninterrupted spiel to the answering machine.  I said I'd run into
"discrimination" (buzz word) because of having ferrets, then went on to say
that my ferrets are non-destructive compared to many other animals (and
children), quiet, gentle, and are caged when unsupervised.  I said anyone
who doubted me was welcome to visit my current house where they'd lived for
four years and give it an inspection.  I got a lot more positive responses
after that, and only hope the place we're most interested in accepts our
application.
 
It seems to me that there should be some legal recourse for ferret-owners.
For now, though, I'm planning to send fact-sheets to the places that turned
me down after publishing ads that said "pets welcome."  Does someone know
of a ferret website that has an informative publication for rental people?
I don't want to get into arguing or threatening, just educating.
 
Signe
[Posted in FML issue 2804]