I made a call to Pat today to try to get more information as to what happened. He was understandably upset, so some information is still unclear to me. From what I understand, Animal Control and the police showed up with a warrant yesterday. Pat did not want to open the door to them, so they chose to open it themselves, forcibly. 4 ferrets were seized and taken to the shelter, even tho only 2 of them were present at the picnic. Because 3 of them are sables they could not be certain which were at the picnic. Pat thought they might be able to get the white ferret, Jasper, out of the shelter, but animal control wanted the health department to examine her. As of this evening Jasper is still in the shelter. It is currently assumed that they are all in for a 2 week quarantine. Let's hope it stays that way and they don't decide to suddenly test any of them. Pat is upset at himself for putting his ferrets at risk. He could have removed them from his home during the week and chose not to. It is unclear as to which ferret, Pat's ferret or otherwise, the girl actually had. She has been examined by a doctor but the extent of the scratch/bite are unknown to me. Regardless of whether anyone thinks they know what should have or not have been done, it still boils down to an unfair law. Parents have a right to be concerned when their child is injured by an unknown animal. We need to educate the public so that the unknown is known, and there is less fear. No matter what state you are in, I would highly suggest you keep your ferrets health records with you when taking your ferret into the public. It is always wise to present a ferret with the back towards a stranger and the face near you. Even the most well behaved ferret could become upset in the right circumstances. Please keep Pat in your thoughts as he spends a very long 2 weeks worrying about the treatment of his ferrets, especially Daisy (the perfect ferret) who I believe is now 7 years old. Daisy has been a regular at FA functions and is always well behaved and patient with those who handle her. Please don't turn this into a flame war about who is to blame. Instead suggest constructive ways we can all prevent this from happening, and how we can better educate the public so they have less fear of ferrets. Chris Kibler Ferrets Anonymous Lost/Found Coordinator Ferrets Anonymous San Diego East County Chair [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 2736]