Can anyone tell us where to turn? We (as a ferret shelter) were asked by a local Animal Control Officer (Karen Burns) of the Bay County Animal Control to participate in an "Educational Weekend" at a local mall. We agreed to this and put the proper insurance procedures into place, checked and double checked our records here and with our vet to be sure the ferrets we were taking had been properly vaccinated and followed all the procedures step by step to be sure everything was proper. Friday started good. Tons and tons of people asking questions, picking up literature, coming back for more information and all looked good. Then about 7:30 in the evening a gentleman was asking questions about Kodo who I was holding in my hands. He asked if he could pet him which I agreed to and held Kodo out. Kodo's little head was resting in my left hand and his body was in my right hand, he never moved. This 71 year old gentleman reached out and accidently hit Kodo lightly in the nose. One of Kodo's little fangs punctured a hole in the man's knuckle and he rather joked about he'd been bitten which we both laughed off. About 10 minutes later he comes back to our booth with Karen Burns (The Animal Control Department Head) who has a small critter cage with her and a "bite report" form. It seems this man was looking over a display of animal bite victim pictures which were on display and casually mentioned to his wife that his ferret bite wasn't all that bad when Mrs. Burns jumped on the bandwagon and decided to file her report. She demanded I turn the "guilty" ferret over to her. When I exhibited reluctance she stated either I give her the one ferret or she would simply take all 14 that we had there. There was no discussion, just stated as a matter of fact. The "bite" report states in the description "Minor, No Stitches, Scratch Did Bleed Victim put hand near ferret, bumped the ferret in the mouth and the victim had broken skin" and for this she is going to euthanize our 11 month old lover boy who's worst offence ever was giving us tons of kisses. I've tried to deal rationaly with this leaving emotions out of it. I've tried to ask her where it is written that the animal MUST be euthanized with no response so I've surfed the net for 24 hours straight looking for it. Mrs. Burns stated "we follow the guidelines set forth by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta Georgia", this is close to right as is dictated by Michigan law Act No. 358 which states "A person who owns or harbors a ferret that has potentially exposed a person or other animal to rabies by biting, scratching, causing abrasions, or contaminating open wounds or mucous membranes with saliva or other infectious material shall handle the ferret in accordance with current published guidelines of the centers of disease control and prevention". Ok, I surfed off to the CDC website and downloaded the 1995, 96 & 97 guidelines. 1995 & 1996 both state in part "Prior vaccination of an animal may not preclude the necessity for euthanasia and testing if the period of virus shedding is unknown for that species. Management of animals other than dogs and cats depends on the species, the circumstances of the bite, and the epidermiology of rabies in the area" and the 1997 guidelines state the same thing with three more criteria added to the end of it to include "the biting animal's history, current health status, and potential for exposure to rabies.". Mrs. Burns has taken it upon herself, in my opinion, to skip this part of the law and euthanize my pal Kodo. The only thing I found anywhere on the web which even suggests euthanasia is an Advisory Committee to the Public Health Service (ACIP) memo from 1991 which states "Exotic pets (including ferrets) and domestic animals crossbred with wild animals are considered wild animals by NASPHV and the Conference of State and Territorial Epidemiologists because they may be highly susceptible to rabies and could transmit the disease. Because the period of rabies virus shedding in these animals is unknown, these animals should be killed and tested rather than confined and observed when they bite humans." This policy has nothing to do with CDC so I don't know if this is her "authority" or not. Now you have the whole story, I'm mourning the loss of our beloved Kodo and left in limbo helpless, lost and confused. Beware that YOUR pet may give someone a kiss and nick the skin, or lick an open scratch and someone else see it. Ferrets are "legal" in Michigan, but they have no chance with zellots like Mrs. Burns around. The way the law reads, she could very well have confiscated the ferrets simply for kissing us. Robert Jacobs Rascal's Hideout This rather lengthy story is my personal opinion and description of events and not nesessarily the opinion of the shelter. [Posted in FML issue 1922]