>If you research this you will find that there are no laws with regards to
>dogs and rabies in Michigan.  Each and every rabies suspect bite is reported
>to -- guess who?  The Michigan Dept.  of Community Health.  Guess who makes
>the determination on whether the dog (or whatever) lives, dies or is
>quarantined?  Yep, you got it, Community Health.
 
It may very well be true that there are no laws concerning dog bites.  But
there is a law about how ferret bites are to be handled.  By law they are
required to follow the most current recommendations of the CDC.  The problem
in Michigan is that Drs. Hall and Strobierski are choosing to consider the
most current recommendations to be the 1994 compendium, which were the most
current at the time the law was passed, even though the courts have told
them otherwise.  The earlier guidelines allow for more latitude supporting a
kill and test policy.  The current guidelines have a detailed risk
assessment (funny, ther's that term again) which is not the way they want to
do it.
 
As for the chair of the committee being the only one who can schedule the
hearing of the bill in committee, I tend to disagree.  My home state of
Minnesota, like many others, does have a provision allowing the author to
force movement of a stalled bill.  There is even a process by which the bill
can be brought directly to the floor for a vote, bypassing the committee.
We used this several years ago when public health had a bill we sponsored
tied up in committee.
[Posted in FML issue 2108]