Hello Ferret Folk, I am a ferretless weasel lover at the moment so I only
lurk on the FML, but I just had to comment on Muriel M.  Marshall's story of
taking her Ferrets out of Canada to the US.
 
Last year we decided to visit Victoria BC (we live in Seattle) and decided
that we'd rather take Gracie with us than leave her with a ferret sitter.
 
I didn't even know if ferrets were legal in Canada, so I called up customs
who referred me to the Fish & Wildlife equivalent up there, who sent me the
barrage of forms I had to fill out to take her with us.  Exact same
rigamarole.  Vet certificate of health, proof of rabies vaccinations etc.
then we had to mail all of that back to Canada & get a "ferret passport"
basically a letter saying that it was cool to have her with us.  Naturally
we were still waiting to receive this the week before we were supposed to
leave & I had to call up & beg them to fax me a copy just to be sure we
wouldn't get turned back at the border.  And yes of course, when we got to
the border and tried to give them all the paperwork we had gone through such
hoops for the guard had no idea what to do with it, so he just waved us
through & said he'd figure it out for the next ferret that came through...
I think he just wanted to go grab a dictionary & find out what the heck a
ferret was ;->
 
I'm glad to hear that they impose the same amount of hassle no matter
which direction you're trying to travel over the border.  It seems
more fair that way.  I suspect they actually want the same papers if
you try to bring a cat or dog or goldfish through, it's just that it
never occurs to anyone to ask when they have "normal" pets...
 
Eden Rain
[log in to unmask]
 
*Gracie died a few months after that trip & we haven't had the heart yet to
adopt another ferret & go through the anguish of losing one again someday.
I just spend my time reading the FML so I can live vicariously reading all
your wonderfull stories of life with fuzzies.
[Posted in FML issue 1248]