Hi!
 
It's Denise, now moved out of the FFZ of Minneapolis, MN and in a
nearby suburb!  The city hall here said there's no prohibition of
ferret ownership, so I'm "out of the closet" now.
 
I posted a question a little while ago about taking care of a
ferret for my SO until he moved in a couple of months, and
someone responded that the furries might miss each other.  I
mentioned this to my SO, and he said if that happened, he just
might have to let me keep the little guy, and get one himself
after he moved!  Naturally, I was not averse to this suggestion,
so I now have another 4-month-old male sable.  This one's named
Randall, and he and Rocko occasionally scrap, but I rarely hear
any "complaints" from either of them.  I remember reading that
2 ferrets got into less trouble than 1, because they had each
other to play with.  Well, Rocko nips my feet less (maybe he just
grew out of it), but they seem to get into trouble _together_
now!  They tag-team the kitchen garbage can, trying to raid it
for snacks, and yesterday they stole my wallet and scattered the
cards everywhere!  Since I just got the Ferret World catalog
mentioned in the STAR* Ferret Database, I suspect they were trying
to get my credit card and call in an order.  :)  They've napped
together, curled up next to/on each other - aw, how cute!
 
On a not-as-nice topic:
Minneapolis Animal Control forbids ferret ownership because they
say that no company will guarantee that the rabies vaccine is
effective on ferrets.  So, I've been in contact with Troy Lynn
(hugs to your furries!) and Dr. Williams, and have come up with
the 1-800 number of the manufacturer, a 1980 CDC report on ferrets
and rabies, 2 Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Assoc.
articles (plus a pointer to a compendium of rabies info there),
the numbers of some other "ferret activists," and probably some
other things that I'm forgetting.  Anyone else have any ideas
on info I can get?  It was suggested to me that FURO has a
collection of rabies/legalization info; does anyone have any
info on how good this is?  I'm also joining DEFFBAM and GCFA
(Greater Chicago Ferret Assoc; my SO lives there).
 
Someone suggested that if I could get Mpls Animal Control's
statement in writing, that the manufacturer may be able to
sue for libel.  At least it'd be better "proof."  Also, they'd
passed the buck for this "no guarantee" info to the state dept.
of health, so I've requested that they send me any info on this.
The person I talked to from their epidemioloy dept. said she
didn't know anything about that - I hope that's a good sign!
Seeing that St. Paul allows ferrets with permits and permission,
I'd guess that they either don't require ferrets to get rabies
vaccinations, or this misinformation was _not_ given out by the
state.
 
I'm going to check out the other suburbs here and see what their
laws are; I know that Hopkins and Golden Valley prohibit them,
but not why.  I'll let everyone know how it goes, and I'll
definitely give kudos to everyone who helps with resources.
 
Final happy note:  Illinois is among the states who quarantines
a rabies-vaccinated ferret who bites!  I took Randall to a vet
there while I was visiting, and the rabies handout included this
statement: "...[S]ince the state now recognizes the [Pittman
Moore] Imrab [3] vaccine as effective in ferrets, if a VACCINATED
ferret should bite someone, it would not be destroyed, but rather
treated as a dog or cat and quarantined at home for a 10 day period
with veterinary exams at the beginning and end of the quarantine
period."
 
Equal rights for ferrets -
Denise
...and Rocko and Randall, 4-month-old male sable ferrets (Boxes of
       things everywhere!  Yay!  Lots of things to explore!  You get
       that one, and I'll start on this pile...)
    and Grumpy, ~1-year-old teddy bear hamster (Too wild for me...)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0909]