Cross posted by permission from Jeanne Carley.

Hello everyone,

I was very involved with Ferret Legalization at the time that
Michelle's grandmother came and testified about the ferret incident in
Carson City that left Michelle disfigured. As part of our attempt to
set the record straight, Bill Phillips contacted Lee Wittek who was an
Animal Control Office in Carson City at the time of the 1985 incident
and Lee's formal declaration was presented to the California State
Senate as part of our Senate Bill 55, authored by Senator Quentin Kopp.

His declaration clearly states that "the reason it took so long to
respond to her (Michelle's) cries of agony is that apparently neither
of her parents were consciously present in the home at the time their
child was injured." He goes on to say that "the rumor in the community
was that her mother was down at the local bar with her girlfriends (it
was also rumored they were having some trouble at home), and the father
was either not present or was asleep or unconscious. Although the
father denied it when questioned, there were indications that the
father was drinking and had fallen asleep or passed out."  Mr. Wittek
goes on to say that "There is also the serious question of just how
the ferret gained access to the baby up in her crib. My experience with
ferrets is that they are not particularly good climbers and jumpers and
absent some outside help would not have been able to gain access to the
baby in the crib unless provided with a ladder of some form, such as a
lattice work of wire or cloth they could climb up, or were placed in
the crib by someone."

Clearly there is no evidence that the ferret was not a pet, and while
Mr. Wittek wonders how the ferret gained access to the crib, he only
speculates, he does not state how it got there because there was no
proof. Sadly Michell Bowers was the victim of a ferret attack-- but she
was first the victim of her own parents' negligence, parents who were
not charged with negligence in 1985 but who might very well be charged
in today's less forgiving climate. The reason we kept running into
Christine Ostrom, Michelle's grandmother, at Fish and Game and Capitol
hearings was because Michelle was raised by her grandmother, not by her
parents.

And, based on statistics, Michelle was fortunate that the animal in
question was a ferret and not a dog. As Mr. Wittek testified in his
declaration, "From my own experience, I know that ferrets are
significantly less dangerous to children than are dogs. I will state
categorically that my own knowledge of ferret behavior would indicate
that there would have to be a great deal of gross parental
irresponsibility for any child to be seriously injured by a ferret."

Kudos to Linda Soule for bringing this up but more so for asking that
ferret lovers stick to the facts and be measured when responding.
Unfounded claims reduce credibility substantially, and accurate,
rational and reasoned responses represent not just ferret lovers in
a better light but the animal as well.

Jeanne Carley

[Posted in FML 6629]