Last week, when you printed the address for the state by state rabies laws,
I made it a bookmark.  I went to pull it up today to say what I found, and
it won't come up.  It says something like file not found.  Where did it go??
 
Anyway, Missouri does recognize IMRAB-3 as being effective for ferrets, and
it is not a required vaccine.  It is totally up the owner.
 
What happens in a bite incident is case by case.  If it has rabies shots,
thats a point in its favor.  It depends on the person (or their family) what
happens, and what exactly happened.  If the person is ok with not having the
ferret killed, they probably will not.  If it was a viscious attack, they
more than likely will.  Quarantine would be in the home.  This is all from
Dr Knox of St Louis city rabies control.  Their number is 314/353-5838.  He
also told me they are getting close to having a set quarantine time for
ferrets.  I also called various places to find out what they do with
ferrets.  The city pound does not take them if you bring one in.  If they
pick one up off the street, they call a breeder or a shelter to take it.
They do not kill it.  The Humane Society does not take them if you bring one
in, either, but if they pick one of the street, they automatically kill and
test.  I asked why, she told me there were too many cases of rabid ferrets
(hah!).  The APA of St Louis takes them and adopts them out.  I don't know
if they keep in til it's adopted, or they have a maximum time they can keep
any certain animal.  There's also a places called PALS which is Lincoln
counties humane society.  They also accept ferrets, but they don't keep the
animals all in one place.  They put all their animals in foster homes.
People volunteer for this.  Soory if this was too long, but I wanted to let
people know what I found out about Missouri.
 
Sue
Nicki (thats not your sock, its mine!)
[Posted in FML issue 2003]