Washington Post 28 Jun FERRET OWNER REMAINS FREE AS SEARCH CONTINUES Judge Thornton released the owner of a missing ferret that authorities fear may be rabid, modifying an earlier decision to jail jennifer Au until the animal is found. After the woman testified that her attempts to locate the animal during the weekend were unsuccessful, the judge released her and ordered her to continue looking for the ferret until July 14 when he plans to make a decision about whether to jail Au again. The move was criticized by relatives of the 5 year-old boy who was bitten by a ferret, possibly Au's. The child's grandmother said "The judge is usually tough. You have to be consistent. Now the people who have the ferret may not feel pressure to bring it back." The child is scheduled for his final shot on July 9. Au said yesterday that she had become a pawn in a larger struggle. "I feel I am stuck in the middle between health department officials and the ferret groups. The (the ferret support groups) are using this for publicity," said Au who spent 5 days in jail last week. Another man bitten in the same shop where Au's ferret was caged was scheduled to begin treatment last week. Au and ferret supporters have been skeptical that Fuji has rabies. However, health officials say they cannot take chances because rabies is invariably fatal to humans, especially because no one knows the history of the animal before it was taken to the pet store. This year, District of Columbia officials have found several stray ferrets including one that was rabid, said a city health official. The sale of ferrets has been banned in the District since 1982. END OF ARTICLE I have refrained from editorializing on this subject preferring to present the situation as related in the press. My ferrets are house animals. In all liklihood, they would not survive were they to escape. I positively know they are less likely to be exposed to rabies than I am. If one of mine bit a person in our house, I would hide it and go to jail rather than give it up for certain death. Likewise, were it in a cage at a pet store and I saw the biting incident and it was not my ferret, I would not give it up. On the other hand, if there were any doubt about who did the biting and the history of the animal, I would feel obligated to deliver up the animal. I am concerned that the current hysteria may cause keeping of ferrets as pets to be outlawed. Ferrets are legal in Virginia and most states, at least for now. [Posted in FML 0031]