I suspect that the person whose ferret was lost because of an argument
with someone who reported the ferret only two years ago figures it was
important then and could again be important for someone.

SHORT QUOTED SEGMENTS from
http://nypost.com/2014/05/30/ferret-ban-mostly-forgotten-in-the-15-years-since-it-passed/

In the 15 years ... only two have ever been seized by the city,
officials conceded Thursday -- leading advocates to wonder why the
law was ever even enacted.

"...we get very few complaints," a Department of Health spokeswoman
said. ...

Both were taken from their owners in 2012, with one ratted out in
Brooklyn Heights out of vengeance by a feuding neighbor. The other
was discovered by accident ... following a dog-bite report.

Neither ferret was seized for biting or stinking -- the two most
feared weasel woes cited by ferret foes including Giuliani...
END QUOTED SEGMENTS

This article brings up five things that I think matter:
1. the possibility of vengeance reporting and just plain nasty
neighbors or nasty ex-lovers or ex-roomies.
2. the perhaps increased risk of outlawed animals might be put
down more readily when seized
3. the seizures were RECENT, only two years ago
 AND
4. the two ferrets seized did NOTHING WRONG.
5. and finally, in the entire time of the ban there were NO REPORTS
there of ferrets causing any of the postulated problems for which
they were banned.

(Now, we all know that during those years there ELSEWHERE was that
Middle America (not NYC) neglect situation in which a ferret was
accused by a neglectful father of chewing off a baby's fingers BUT we
also know that was never proven. Not only that, but two things indicate
the loss of the fingers very possibly had a different cause. The ferret
had some blood in the GI track, which could be just from wound licking,
but did not have tissues in it, nor were any found in any ferret feces.
No one checked the dog who also was left w the baby during its hours
alone, and no one found the baby swing which the parents threw out
before it could be studied (to see if perhaps it had been set up wrong
with little fingers getting caught in a hinge). Nor did the negligent
parents give a good reason for throwing out the baby swing before
police could inspect it.)

[Posted in FML 8117]