Mr. Lipinski--
 
As I believe I said, the code is not prefect.  I feel that it is, however,
better than what we got in the last city to go legal or with leaving ferrets
in a prohibited status.  And, having received it only 72 hours before it was
voted in, I think I did pretty well with it (I did get some changes made).
So you can't see what benefit LICENSING ferrets is to ferrets and their
owners, hmm?  Well then you've obviously never lived in CA, MI, MA, or
hundreds of Texas cities where your animals were illegal and authorities
have been known to confiscate them.  Or perhaps you have the time and money
to fight a legal battle over fines?  In Fort Worth the fine for having a
prohibited animal is $2000 per occurence.  Each animal is an occurence.
Every 24 hours the condition exists is a separate occurence.  At the maximum
population of ferrets in our house we faced the possibility of $10,000 per
day in fines.  To me showing the city a copy of my ferrets' rabies
certificates once a year and paying $7 a license, then putting that tag on
the ferret's harness when it is taken out of the house on a leash is a small
price to pay.  It's the same that is required of dog and cat owners, which
is more than I can say for miniature swine owners here.  The benefit is that
I'm no longer in danger of being fined by the city, being forced to spend
thousands on legal defense, or having my precious ferrets snatched and not
returned or even put down.  The benefit to the ferret is that rabies
vaccination, and therefore visits to the vet, are required, it is far less
likely to be ripped from its home, and it will be available for adoption to
a home if it is without one rather than being automatically put down.  I
wonder how many California ferret owners would give their eye teeth to have
such recognition and LICENSING?
 
You bring up valid issues about the tag being worn on a collar.  Had I had a
copy to review more than one business day ahead of the council meeting, I
would have resisted that and suggested instead that the owner simply be
prepared to present tag or paperwork on demand.  After all, the city has a
job to do too.  But I didn't get that opportunity.  I for one will not have
my ferrets wearing collars around the house anyway, and the harness they
wear when leashed has the tag lying on their backs, not underfoot.  And even
when they are leashed, they are usually in my arms and not likely to escape.
The tag issue is one that makes the code less than perfect.
 
As for the city adopting out ferrets, you really must have bought way too
far into the idea that all of us in Texas are dumb rednecks or the
stereotypical Aggie of joke fame.  Of course the city is not going to adopt
out intact ferrets!  I clearly stated that I only included lines that were
specific to ferrets (generally those lines including the word ferret).  I
also stated that there were other codes that would apply to ferrets because
they applied to animals in general.  The whole ordinance was 34 pages long,
and that's just the sections that got revised!  I couldn't post the whole
thing.  I believe what you would be interested in is the section on
requirements of the city for adopting out an animal, which say that the
animal must be spayed/neutered before adoption or have a contract requiring
alteration within a set number of days.  The animal legally returns to the
ownership of the city if the obligation is not fulfilled by that deadline,
and believe me, with the guy who is directing animal control, they'll follow
up with anyone who doesn't come back with proof of alteration by the given
date.  The city also has our business cards and club handbooks available to
hand out to new owners, so they do get information about the care of ferrets
and contacts on how to get more.
 
How lucky you are to be in the greater Seattle area, Mr. Lipinski, where the
scenery is gorgeous, most days are cool instead of in excess of 100 with
lows over 80, and where apparently the most the city requires of you is that
you carry liability insurance for events held on city held public property.
 
Debra Thomason
 
[Posted in FML issue 2387]