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- Why Are Ferrets
Illegal In Some Places?
Most laws that prohibit ferrets as pets
are based on ignorance or misinformation. There are several common
"reasons" that ferrets have been declared illegal. These
include:
"Ferrets are wild animals"
(untrue, they have been domesticated for thousands of years)
"There's no rabies shot for
ferrets so they'll spread this disease," (IMRAB-3 has been USDA
approved for ferrets since 1991 and no human has ever contracted rabies
from a ferret)
"Ferrets are dangerous, vicious
biters" (ferrets are thousands of times less likely to bite
than a dog according to statistics from the Centers of Disease Control)
"A feral ferret population could
destroy the environment" (there are no feral domestic ferret (Mustela
putorius furo) populations in North America; the wild cousin to the
domestic ferret, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), is
one of the most endangered species in the world).
- For
more information about ferrets and legalization see the Jan/Feb 2000
issue of Ferrets magazine and the 2001 Annual Ferrets USA magazine
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- GETTING INVOLVED IN
FERRET LEGALIZATION EFFORTS
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- Many people are surprised when they
find out that ferrets are illegal in some areas. The ones who are
the most surprised are owners of illegal ferrets who are suddenly
fined, told to get rid of their fuzzies, or even have their ferrets
confiscated! Certainly, these owners become extremely motivated to
resolve their ferrets’ legal status. But what can EVERYONE do to
get involved and make sure ferrets enjoy the same legal rights as
other pets?
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- FIRST, FIND THE
FERRET FACTS
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- The first activity of any responsible
ferret owner is to find the legal status of ferrets where they live.
Start at the state laws, then look for county laws, and then get
specific to your city, township, or municipality. City laws can be
more stringent than county laws, and county laws can be more
stringent that state laws. This means that if ferrets are legal in
the state, they can be illegal in the county or at the city level.
For example, New York City's ban is not statewide. Ferrets are legal
in New York State -- the ban only affects NYC's five boroughs.
On the other hand, local laws cannot be more relaxed than
state laws, so if ferrets are illegal at the state level, they
cannot be made legal at the local level. At the state level, ferrets
are legal to own everywhere in the United States except California,
Hawaii, and Washington D.C. There
was a movement to declare San Francisco as a “Ferret Safe Zone,”
but because state laws take precedence over city laws, the code
could not be changed.
-
- Where Is This
Information?
-
- Legal status of any animal is
contained in the animal control code. How do you go about getting
this information? Much ferret animal control code issues are at the
local level, not at the county or state level. When checking out
your particular town’s code, the first step is to get a copy of
the section of the code of ordinances that applies to animals.
Most cities have a chapter devoted to this.
While some towns have copies of the code in their local
libraries, these copies may be many years old with a number of
supplements issued as the originally printed code has been updated.
You would have to read through the code and all the amended changes
to be sure you had all the information, and this can be confusing
and time consuming. A missing supplement could also be a key issue!
A better option may be to visit the city secretary's office
and request a copy of the entire animal code. You may need to pay a
small copying fee. You could also request a current code copy by
mail or fax, as long as you can arrange to prepay these costs. Some
cities have their animal control code listed on the Internet, which
is the best option. Visit http://www.municode.com
(or your county or city’s website) to see if your local code
is online, but be sure the code is current. You can easily search
for issues regarding ferrets by using the “find” function
(Ctrl-F) and looking for any parts of the code than contain the word
“ferret” or “mustelid.”
-
- After checking the animal code, find
out what the working policies are of your local animal control
officers. You may find that policies do not match the code. Debra
Thomason, former President and Vice President for Legal Affairs for
the Ferret Lovers’ Club of Texas, tells us, “There are instances
in my home state of Texas where the animal control folks have told
citizens that ferrets are illegal in their city without a word of
code to back them up.” In these cases, even though ferrets are
legal and you are not breaking the law, your ferrets are at risk.
Your ferrets could be at risk of being confiscated, and you may need
to go to court to prove you are not breaking a law. In the meantime,
your ferret is at risk of having inadequate care while in
quarantine, being turned over to a wildlife rehabilitator, or at
worst, euthanized.
-
- On the other hand, a few animal
control departments tell people that ferrets are legal and actually
issue licenses for the critters while the city's code continues to
specifically prohibit ferrets!
This could be dangerous because the law is NOT on your side.
Thomas says that in this situation, “Given enough time and
a sympathetic judge you might be able to retrieve a seized ferret,
but you could not safely bring it back to your home and would be
faced with a decision to move, give up the ferret, or place its
safety at risk.”
-
- A strategy for finding out animal
control information is to use the telephone. Ask to talk to the
director of animal control because it is his or her job to know the
codes that apply to animals in the city.
Tell the director you are considering a move to the city and
want to be informed about regulations that may affect your pets.
Be up front and say you have ferrets. After all, this is a
fairly anonymous tactic -- they don't know who you are and hopefully
you're doing this research BEFORE you actually move into the city!
-
- Where ISN’T This
Information?
-
- There is plenty of bad information out
there on the legal status of ferrets. Jeanne Carley, Co-founder of
Californians for Ferret Legalization, says, “Sadly, pet stores
have been the number one source of misinformation about the legal
status of ferrets in California. Countless folks over the years have
told me that pet store workers have told them that ferrets were
legal to own but not buy or sell.
Of course that would make sense to anyone working in or
visiting a California pet store whose shelves contain dozens of
ferret specific products!” Carley concludes that the best way to
get the truth about the status of any animal is to call the local
animal control or humane societies.
-
- Lori Malizia, a spokesperson from New
York City Ferrets, says, “Unfortunately, lots of
"officials" give out the wrong information. I've
been told ferrets were illegal in places they were not and I've been
told they were legal in places they weren't! Pet stores,
vets, police, public officials.... I've gotten incorrect answers
from all of them.” She recommends you contact multiple sources and
see if there is a consensus on ferrets’ legal status.
-
- Updates and Changes
-
- Keep in mind that animal control codes
are often updated and revised, so it is important to stay current
with the legal status of your ferrets. Although in most cases codes
are changing to make ferrets legal, occasionally there is a setback,
such as the recent ban on ferrets in New York City (where they had
been legal before). In my own case, while doing research for this
article, I found out (to my surprise) that my county has revised
their animal control code effective January 1, 2001. Where ferrets
had not been mentioned in the code before (and were by default
legal), now they must be vaccinated for rabies and licensed, along
with cats and dogs. Without my $5 per ferret license in January, my
ferrets would be illegal, and I would be subject to fines and court
appearances if I were caught with an unlicensed ferret.
Additionally, an unlicensed, unidentified ferret is far more likely
to be euthanized if picked up, because my county’s animal control
facility simply does not have the capacity to house ferrets “at
large” who have not been identified to an owner for pickup.
-
- HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND
FERRET PRO-LEGALIZATION GROUPS?
-
- The Internet is your friend. Visit Ferret Central at www.ferretcentral.org
and dig through their lists of clubs and shelters. Find the ones closest to you and contact them to see if there
is legalization activity in the area.
Or use a meta-search engine (such as www.dogpile.com)
and try a search for both "ferret" and
"legalization" to show up on the same page. You can also
sign up for Internet mailing lists with ferret topics and ask about
legalization efforts. The largest such list is the Ferret Mailing List or FML, with
over 3000 subscribers and a searchable archive (see Box). Jeanne
Carley adds, “The internet is a terrific way make your
organization known and a simple search on your area of interest can
land quite a bit of hits.”
-
- Both local, as well as state-level,
humane organizations and animal control departments are usually
aware of other organizations in the same or a similar field. For
example, Carley explained, “Representing this issue in Sacramento
[the state capitol] has meant that Californians for Ferret
Legalization is known on the state level to humane groups like the
State Humane Association as well as to state animal control groups
like the California Animal Control Director's Association.
We've also worked directly with the California Veterinary
Medical Association. Often
a ferret owner isn't sure who to call but those calls generally get
filtered down to us that way.”
-
- Another great way to find out about
legalization groups is to regularly read national consumer magazines
covering ferrets (such as this one). These magazines help you find
others working in specific legalization arenas.
Usually contact information is provided to these groups, as
it is to rescue organizations at little or no charge.
-
- HOW CAN PEOPLE GET
INVOLVED AND HELP PRO-LEGALIZATION GROUPS?
-
- The best way to get involved and to
help out is to stay connected via e-mail and/or letters. Jeanne
Carley says, “Californians for Ferret Legalization e-mails
everyone on the California Update list when action is needed in
Sacramento. We also send out first-class mailings to our members
when their Senators or Assembly members are about to vote either in
committee or on the floor. We currently have over 7,500 members so
it's a substantial number.” Malizia from NYC Ferrets emphasizes
that “Getting on the mailing lists will ensure you will stay as up
to date as possible.”
-
- Debra Thomason spearheaded efforts to
get ferrets legalized in Plano, Garland, and Fort Worth, Texas.
After these years of experience she says, “The greatest problem
faced in legalization is finding folks who will give of their time
and who will be courageous enough to stand up in front of government
officials and ask for reasonable laws governing their pets.
People need to be willing to go to group meetings where
strategy is discussed and be educated on the issues.
They also need to be willing to attend city council meetings
and speak, if to say nothing more than "I want to see ferrets
legal in this city."”
-
- Thomason would love to see ferrets
legalized in Dallas, but there needs to be many volunteers ready to
spend significant time and effort to get the laws changed. She says,
“It’s particularly important that there be at least a core group
of actual residents in the targeted city who are willing to speak to
officials or no effort can be made.
Elected officials need to see that the issue is important to
their constituents -- their voters.
Volunteers should be willing to do some of the legwork in
gathering documents that may assist in providing the information the
lawmakers require to consider legalization.” Thomason adds,
“Expect this process to be a time-intensive endeavor-- there will
likely be a series of meetings over time that will require someone
from the ferret supporters to attend.
Learn how to bite your tongue and "play the
game."”
-
- Carley, who has been working
diligently for many years in the efforts to legalize ferrets in
California, agrees with needing active volunteers. “The best thing
our supporters can do is to be an active participant, not a passive
observer. It takes a
toll on volunteers and is a drain on scarce financial resources when
a strictly volunteer organization asks its members to write and they
don't follow through. It's also important to have volunteers for
mailings and public events like pet shows.
This spreads the work and gets the message out.”
-
- Lori Malizia of NYC Ferrets thinks the
biggest problem with legalization efforts is that people don't get
involved for a variety of reasons. These reasons include (1) people
feel like they're going to do it "wrong" somehow so they
just assume others will do things better, (2) they don’t bother
because they assume other people are handling the issue already and
another letter or contribution won't be significant, or (3) they are
scared that by getting involved they'll be exposing themselves as
criminals.
-
- When I spoke to City Council Meetings
in Texas, I never identified myself as an actual ferret owner – I
just spoke up for ferret legalization. Nor did I give people my home
address. You can use your work address or a P.O. box. In addition,
you could get permission from a friend or neighbor to use their
address. Finally, many legalization organizations will let you use
the P.O. box of that organization as your return address. You do not
have to put your ferrets at risk by disclosing their illegal
address!
-
- It is important for people to realize
that their contribution or involvement DOES make a difference.
Letters written to the correct people are very beneficial, and they
don't have to be perfect. Your legalization group can tell you
exactly who to write to. It's
also very important to follow up and stay involved. Malizia points
out, “Writing a letter is great, but a month or so down the line,
they can write another one as a followup to ask what's going
on. They can even call or visit the appropriate legislator. We're
not saying people should harass or stalk their legislators, but it's
perfectly valid to write, wait a bit, and write again saying they're
following up on their previous communications and they wanted to
check on the progress or status of the legislation. Often people
think that once they've written one letter, they've "done
that" and there's nothing else to do. That's simply not true.
It's important for people to stay involved and make legalization
efforts (a letter, a call) a regular part of their monthly routine.
It should be scheduled into their calendar every 2-4 weeks until
things change. If everybody did this, you'd be amazed at how quickly
things would start happening!”
-
- BE A TEAM PLAYER
AND FOLLOW THE RULES
-
- Don’t try to legalize ferrets all by
yourself. This kind of effort takes the help of many volunteers, so
join the team, and learn from those who have more experience.
It’s important to learn how laws are changed in your
community, and get to know the key players and legislators.
Following the rules, no matter how slow and frustrating, is the best
chance for success in getting ferrets legalized. Don’t be a
maverick and try to bully your opinion through the system – this
will only cause problems for a legalization effort. Don’t harass,
namecall, or threaten the legislators. Don’t be anonymous, because
your opinion won’t count. What you can do is be patient with the
slow legal system, the ignorance of other people, and the abundance
of misinformation about ferrets. Patience and hard work will
eventually lead to ferrets being free everywhere!
- HELPFUL INFORMATION
ABOUT LEGALIZATION EFFORTS
-
- Californians for Ferret Legalization
- 410 Mountain Home Road
- Woodside, CA
94062
- (650) 851-3750
- Email: ferretnews@aol.com
- Website: http://www.ferretnews.org
-
- NYC Ferrets
- Cathedral Station
- PO Box 952
- New York, NY 10025-0952
- Email: nycferrets@aol.com
- Website: http://members.aol.com/NYCFerrets
-
- Places Where
Ferrets Are Illegal
- http://home.netcom.com/~redshoes/ffz.html
- Caution: This site is somewhat
outdated
-
- The Ferret Mailing
List
- To subscribe to the Ferret Mailing
List (FML), send email to its moderator, Bill Gruber, at ferret-request@cunyvm.cuny.edu
and ask to be added. You can also try subscribing automatically by
sending email to listserv@cunyvm.cuny.edu with the command SUBSCRIBE
FERRET <your first-name> <your last-name> in the body of
the email. Other information for subscribing is available at http://www.lsoft.com/scripts/wl.exe?SL1=FERRET-L&H=CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
- Searchable archives of the FML are
available at http://listserv.cuny.edu/archives/ferret-search.html
-
- Listing of Ferret
Organizations and Shelters
- http://ferretcentral.org/orgs.html
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