JMarch wrote: "People who believe in personal freedom are going to display
it in a wide range of ways.  I'd be willing to bet NH isn't a kill&test
state."
 
No, NH is not a kill and test state.  As Governor Shaheen wrote in her
proclamation marking June 12 "Ferret Appreciation Day," NH was the first in
the nation to have a statewide quarantine law for vaccinated ferrets.  The
law was signed on June 12, 1995, prior to the completion of even the first
US ferret rabies shedding study.  It was passed unanimously by both the
House and Senate on the basis of the effectiveness of the rabies vaccine;
the European Shedding Study results; and the low number of rabid ferret ever
found in the US.
 
Without the shedding study results, however, we did have to accept
compromises.  These included a 45 day in-house quarantine for vaccinated
ferrets, and a mandatory kill and test for unvaccinated ferrets.  At the
time it was the best we could do, and it saved many ferret lives.  It also
ended the propaganda being sent out by the State Public Health office to
schools, doctors and others calling ferrets a "high risk for rabies."
 
This year we intend to go back in using: the recent US shedding studies; the
bat rabies studies found by Troy Lynn Eckart; and other statistics to amend
to law to grant a 10 day quarantine for both vaccinated and unvaccinated
ferrets, much like the recent MA ferret policy.
 
     Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 1964]