I am still bristling with indignation and feel I must share my experience
with you guys.  My husband and I run The Ferret Centre here in Perth (W.
Australia) and we have always enjoyed educating people about the joys of
ferret ownership and making sure that a ferret suits a particular person if
they want to buy one (and believe me, quite often we refuse to sell a ferret
to unsuitable people!!).  No joke, customers really do get the third degree
from us if they express an interest in getting a ferret and always go away
with about 4 pages of information of everything we can think of to give them
an idea of what ferrets are like, what they eat, etc.
 
On Tuesday I had a call from a young fellow who asked if we'd buy his
ferret - the guy was pretty inarticulate and when I asked if the ferret was
friendly, he said he had to scruff it because "if ya stick ya fingah in its
face, it'd chomp ya!" I suggested that he brought the animal down for us to
look at before we would commit to anything.  He did, and I was horrified to
see a young male (approx 8 months old) in a tiny bird cage put on our
counter.  Worse still, I looked at this poor creature's feet and have
never, in my life, seen anything like them before.  The ferret stood with
splayed feet that had terribly swollen pads and the most grotesque,
deformed, thick yellow gnarly nails that were each about one inch long!!
The fur was all patchy and there were sores between the toes, it was just
dreadful.  As well as that, he had a mangey tail and body and looked liked
he was starving.  I opened the cage door fairly gingerly and the poor guy
hobbled out, came into my arms and started rubbing his chin along my chest
as if I were a long time buddy of his.  The young man's jaw dropped and he
informed me that the ferret had never done that to him.  I wonder why!
 
Apparently this ferret was sold with sarcoptic mange to this boy by a pet
stall in a local market and the guy was told to feed it every other day so
that it wouldn't get too fat!  He had it for about a month but, because of
its long nails, it wasn't a good hunting ferret so he got fed up with it.
It seems like this boy, through ignorance, thought this was how all ferrets
looked and so didn't think anything was wrong.  It really makes me wonder if
some people think at all!!
 
Needless to say we took the ferret from the boy, got his address and called
the SPCA to come and see the ferret, which they did do.  The inspector
implied that the feet were deformed because he thought the ferret had been
brought up walking on the wire of his cage in the dirt (I think not, as I
know sarcoptic mange causes this sort of deformity) and the fact that he was
skinny, well, he'd soon put the weight on once we started feeding it
properly, blah blah blah ... all in all, not much interest in the condition
of this poor animal.  That flabbergasted me but after reading what life is
like for ferrets in some of your states, I guess I shouldn't be surprised,
hey?
 
Anyway, once the inspector left we cut Dexter's (our name for the fert!)
nails, took him to the vet for a shot of Ivermectin and he's on daily
antibiotics.  Inshallah, we shall have him looking good within a couple of
weeks!
 
It truly amazes me how people dare to do the things they do when it comes to
animals!!  And educating the public over here is another uphill struggle at
times - we have our 6 ferrets at the Centre so that people can hold them and
see they aren't horrible, viscious beasts but you still get the ones who
insist all ferrets bite (while I'm standing there with Mash, our little
albino, sleeping in my arms with her tongue poking out) and many others
telling me that the only way to get a ferret to release you if it bites you
is to cut off its head ..........!  The mind boggles at the stupidity of
some folk.
 
Anyway - I hope all your ferts enjoy the summer.  Ours are not too impressed
with the winter weather and sleep most of the time.  I wish I could do
likewise!
 
It's been fun sharing and dooks to you all!
 
Nona
The Ferret Centre
 
 _________________________________________
                     "love is the universal language"
         I LoVe YoU.....Ti AmO.....jE t'AiMe.....SaGaBoR!!!!!!
 
                                      LaIaNa
    !@#$%^&*( [log in to unmask] )*&^%$#@!
 __________________________________________
 
Date:    Fri, 5 Jul 1996 17:20:33 -0400
From:    Tracy Aicher <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Ferrets Not Allowed!
 
Hi all!
I need help.  I think that we must have had some personnel changes here at
Grand Forks Air Force Base because I found out yesterday that ferrets are no
longer permitted on base.  This is from a "question and answer" section in
the base newspaper "The Leader":
 
"Q: I was wondering why we weren't allowed to have ferrets on base?  They're
tame---they're just good animals.  They're not mean, they don't bite, they
don't tear-up the houses.  I'd just like to know why we're not allowed to
have them?"
 
"A: The base pet control regulation does not allow wild or exotic animals to
be maintained on this installation.
 
This regulation is based on our requirement to comply with the
recommendation of the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee.  The
current recommendation states "Exotic pets, including ferrets and domestic
animals crossbred with wild animals are considered wild animals---because
they may be highly susceptible to rabies and could transmit the disease."
 
Ferrets are most closely related to skunks, which are the primary source
of rabies in this part of the country.  Additionally, ferrets produce a
lingering odor which many find offensive, and have, on many occasions, made
unprovoked attacks on infants and small children.
 
The purpose of the current pet control regulation is not to prevent pet
ownership, but to protect all individuals within the jurisdiction of the
base.  With this in mind, all wild animals are prohibited."
-------
 
It is my intention to write a letter to the base veterinarian and the base
commander, hopefully to provide facts that will get them to re-think their
stand on this issue.  I need help tracking down valid, well researched
information on the domestication of ferrets, the phylogeny of ferrets and
studies done concerning rabies in domestic ferrets ( I know that there has
been a lot of concern over this in the FML recently, but where can I get my
hands on a copy of the reports?), and studies on ferret/people attacks.  All
of this information must be referenced, documented (preferably published),
accurate and reliable.
 
I have a copy of the FAQ, a couple of books and a video on domestic ferrets
but I don't think that these references will carry much weight with the
individuals I'm trying to convince.
 
Anyone who has information to share please feel free to e-mail me at
[log in to unmask]
Thank you so much, I hope this isn't too long.
[Posted in FML issue 1623]
[Posted in FML issue 1623]