Rachel, >I would be appalled if I was eating in a restaurant where the person next >to me had an animal in a bag. It's unsanitary, even if the ferrets don't >touch the food. Technically, it's not unsanitary. You feel that it is unsanitary and I understand that. Many people have that unconscious "phobia". I promise, you'll never know my fuzzies are there. I'll be there to eat, not to see how many people I can offend, or how much rule stretching I can get away with. I agree with the health codes and the reasons for their establishment. They are there to prevent diseased animals from spreading illnesses via food served to the public. You are, in fact, in much more danger of being affected by mice & roaches inhabiting restaurants than from a ferret that is cleaner than many human children and less likely to spread the flu than you are. I do not advocate simply turning a ferret loose in your car and taking off to wherever without a clue. It requires TRAINING. If you are unwilling to be trained, you should absolutely confine your ferrets to a carrier. It's really that simple. I have found no middle ground that enables a ferret safe freedom in a vehicle without mutual training. There should be no reason for a ferret to scream in a vehicle... you should never release a ferret into an un-ferret proofed area.... Should I have put that in ALL CAPS? Many people seemed to have missed that very critical point. I'll try to emphasize such things a little more next time. And, just as a final note... my ferrets (personal ferrets, not shelter ferrets) are a thousand times better behaved in the car than my two sons ever were... and in restaurants too, for that matter. They sleep all the way there and back and while I'm eating. LOL Debi Christy Ferrets First Foster Home [Posted in FML issue 3035]