After wading through 49 pages of documents (some with minute and blurry
type) from Rhode Island the most important section in relation to our
questions appears to be the one below.  There are a few things you should
know, though: the term "owner" does not extend to shelters, stores, animal
hospitals, kennels and the like (Still not clear on how those situations are
handled.); it appears that when these documents were written that
unvaccinated ferrets were without protection; owners who are considered to
be in violation of the law or animal law scoff-laws (which it turns out
includes those who do not annually get the IMRAB-3 vaccinations for their
ferrets, or regular vaccinations for their dogs and cats, or otherwise are
considered untrustworthy by the authorities) can find their pets being
destroyed even with documentation of vaccination.  If I read this section
right it looks likely that Rhode Island will go with the '98 Compendium as a
matter of course IF the animal control officers are made aware of it and if
it appears in the manual they use.
 
"5.09 FERRETS
Due to the lack of an established incubation period, if the suspect rabid
animal is a ferret, the ACO shall handle the animal according to the
recommendations of the most current Compendium.  The ACO shall make an order
concerning disposal of a ferret as deemed necessary and consistent with the
Manual and/or the most current Compendium..."
 
Looks like it's important that the wording of the Compendium reach their
Manual, but this is one of the three states in which the letter never
reached the people we need it to reach so it has to be politely pursued by
R.I. folks and the AFA.  Then when I get an actual letter about when and
how they plan to implement the Compendium I'll put it here.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 2158]