I had an informative -- and terrifiying -- conversation with the State of CT
Department of Health today.  Fellow nutmeggers, CT is a kill and test state
for ferrets.
 
Dogs and cats who bite are required to serve a 14-day quarantine.  The
quarantine can be at the owner's home, or in the custody of a vet or the
state, on a case-by case basis.  The 14-day quarantine is the same, whether
the pet is known to have been vaccinated, or is an unknown stray.
 
FERRETS, on the other hand, are labeled by the CT Department of Agriculture
as WILD ANIMALS, and kill and test is ALWAYS required.  A vaccinated,
housebound pet ferret will be killed and tested the same as an unknown stray
ferret.  The reason given for this is that the CT Dept. of Agriculture does
not consider the vaccination used on ferrets to be acceptable ! ! !  Other
"wild animals" subject to irrevocable kill and test are prairie dogs,
hedgehogs, and flying squirrels.  The source I interviewed cited an instance
where a prairie dog in a pet store bit a child and the entire litter was
killed and tested.  As an aside, the source told me that there has NEVER
been a POSITIVE rabies test from a pet store animal.  However, according to
this source, there was an actual rabid ferret incident in CT within the last
three years.  The owner had multiple ferrets, some of whom were vaccinated
and some weren't.  The ferrets were permitted to run outdoors unsupervised,
obviously increasing the chance for exposure to a wild rabid animal.  The
ferret in question bit the owner, and then bit the vet staff who examined
him, to the point where the ferret "locked on" a vet assistant's lip.  When
killed and tested, this ferret was indeed rabid.  The source also noted that
CT kills and tests 20 to 30 ferrets each year.  (And this one, manifesting
outward rabies symptoms, was the ONLY one ever found to be rabid.) I asked
if, in the future, a pet ferret has a vaccination history recorded on a
microchip implanted in its body by a vet, would that permit quarantine
instead of kill and test.  The answer was NO, because a) a ferret is a wild
animal according to the CT Dept.  of Agriculture, and b) the ferret vaccine
for rabies is not acceptable.
 
My concerns: (1) IS the ferret rabies vaccine NOT ACCEPTABLE?  Does that put
me and my family at risk?  If this is a lie, then we must work to change CT
laws to recognize the vaccine.  (2) To change kill and test for ferrets, the
CT Dept.  of Agriculture must classify them as domestic and not wild
animals.  Sound familiar, Californians?  Would someone from my neighboring
state of MA let me know how ferrets were legalized there recently: are they
still wild animals in MA?  If not, please explain how crossing the border
makes them go wild.
 
I wish to stress to other FMLers who might do this research in their state
that the person I spoke to was pleasant and rational.  At no time did I
argue or express opinions or outrage.  I remained calm and detached, and
thus gained valuable information.  Obviously the person I spoke with does
not determine these policies nor does he have the ability to change them.
And by not getting rabid myself, I hopefully did not hurt our cause in the
future.
 
Kat
[Posted in FML issue 1957]