With ferrets, as with any other cause worth fighting for, the absolute
best thing you can do is start out being as well educated as possible.
Making statements based on something someone told you, based on something
someone told them, etc., without researching and making sure that
statement is accurate only hurts the cause.
 
A good example is saying that there has never been a reported case of
rabies in ferrets.  This sounds good, sheds a very positive light on
ferrets, but is entirely untrue.  There absolutely have been documented
cases of rabies in domestic ferrets.  These cases are few and far
between, probably number under 10 since 1974.  Domestic ferrets have a
pretty limited risk of exposure to rabies, who's largest possibility of
transmission would be from wild animals.  (Please note, these stats are
specific to the US.  The UK may be an entirely different animal, as it
were, as domestic ferrets are regularly used as hunting animals, so have
a greater risk of exposure to rabies.) In any case, I haven't found any
documented cases of a human contracting rabies from a ferret bite, so
that might be true, but ferrets can and do get rabies, which is why it
is so important to keep yours current on their vaccinations.
 
This post is not meant as a reproach to the person who made the statement
about ferrets and rabies.  It is simply a correction, meant with the best
intentions, and a reminder that we must be sure we are armed with as much
accurate information as possible when defending our furry friends.
 
Melissa Rotert
Samurai, the lonely one
Missing Booboo, Cael, Tasha, Nietzsche, Robin, Mira
and O'Dell, who joined the others at the bridge the
day before Christmas
[Posted in FML issue 4379]