>From:    Anonymous Poster <[log in to unmask]>
>I have always wondered, while I understand the necessity to work to
>get ferrets legalized in CA, is it really THAT big of a risk to have
>ferrets there?
 
SJ- this of course is only my opinion... I have a friend with 4 ferrets and
he has had them for about 5 years.  He has never had a legality problem or
anything "scary" happen about his ferrets.  One vet he called to inquire
about whether they saw ferrets did kind of freak out and say something
like "those are illegal; we don't treat them".  But he now has a good vet
who sees other ferrets-- there are even pics of people's ferrets on the vet
office's bulletin board with other people's pets!
 
Both of us have pics of the fuzzies in our office cubes at work and my
friend has brought them to work several times.  We do sometimes take them
to the park-- we kind of keep to ourselves, but that's mostly because a
lot of the other people there have dogs and we like to stay away from
that.  But people are usually just curious if they see them and we take
the opportunity to tell them about ferrets in general.  In most pet stores
you can buy ferret "paraphenalia" :) (I like to call it that since they're
illegal)-- food, toys, collars, etc.  We have also taken them to the pet
store a few times and people go crazy over them.
 
Keep in mind that I am NOT advocating that everyone do all of these things;
over the years we have just gotten bolder and have had nothing bad happen.
That is not to say that something bad will never happen- I think one should
use common sense and when in doubt, err on the side of prudence.
 
So, my experience is if you are a private ferret owner (i.e., I can't speak
to the experience of shelters and other rescue groups), don't tell EVERYONE
in the world that you have them and you just go about your business, it has
never been a problem for my friend.  I mean, I wouldn't drive past the DFG
and wave them out the window or anything, but aside from that we have been
okay.
 
Jaime
 
[Moderator's note: Some people have not been so lucky and some areas are
more strict than others.  In any event, caution is always a good idea.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 3387]