by Lynda Chitwood

Created on: February 12, 2009   Last Updated: March 06, 2009

The following is a true account of my run-in with the law, in regards to our ferret.

A neighbor of ours, and not a nice one, ratted out our ferret.

I answered the door to find an Animal Control Officer on my porch. As apartment manager in a pet-friendly building, she and I had met before. When I put my mind to it, I can be deceitful, but when I am caught off-guard, I will fess up like a child.

"I have a report that you have a ferret"

"Uh, yes"

Now I honestly think that if I had told her "no" she would have walked away, relieved, and closed the case.

But no, I just HAD to be honest and make her day more difficult.

"Do you know they're illegal?" she asked.

"Yes, but do you know why?"
I realize that this could have just irritated her, but I couldn't help it, I really wanted to know.

She just stammered, "Uh, I don't know. Uh, to be honest, I've never been on a ferret call, I don't know what to do." She mentioned something about me being honest and that she would try to get me out of this as she phoned her supervisor.

The supervisor also didn't know what to do, and I suspect they had no desire to take my little girl into "custody". The officer told me her supervisor was phoning Fish and Game. After a few minutes, she came back and told me that Fish and Game regulated ferrets, and that we could apply for a permit. She took my name and number, and said Fish and Game would be in touch.

LEGALITY

I live in California, where ferrets are still illegal. They are illegal in Hawaii
as well, but in no other U.S.
state. A few individual cities, New York City, for instance, have outlawed ferrets, but everywhere in the U.S., they are legal. In most of those areas, spaying and/or neutering as well as de-scenting are required before ferrets can be sold.

We rescued our ferret from an owner who didn't think it through before purchasing her. He did, however, at least make sure we understood what we were getting into when we took her. He was concerned that she'd be well cared for. We researched first, about the care and feeding of ferrets, as well as trying to understand why they are illegal.

The legal fear is that, like the young man who had our ferret, people will reconsider their new pet, release them into the wild, where they can propagate and upset the natural balance. It's a legitimate fear; people do it with all manner of pets, from dogs to baby alligators.

Once, near San Pedro, CA, there was a situation where animal control was forced to go in and exterminate a huge feral cat population and

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