1. Ferrets are the third most popular companion pet in the US, following dogs and cats.
   
   
2. Ferrets are domesticated animals. They do not exist in the wild and have been domesticated for over 2,000 years.
   
   
3. The domesticated ferret is a legal pet in 48 states including New York State! The ban only applies to New York City's five boroughs.
   
   
4. The domesticated ferret is also a legal pet in Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, and Australia.
   
   
5. Ferrets are a safer pet to people, the environment and local wildlife (birds etc.) than either a cat or a dog.
   
   
6. According to a 1996 survey conducted of all 50 states by the California Department of Fish and Game, there are no documented or even suspected feral (escaped/wild) ferrets living anywhere in the United States. In contrast, feral dogs, feral cats, feral pigs, and other feral animals are documented in many states.
   
   
7. A 1989 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that "more than 2 million persons are bitten [by dogs] yearly," with a particularly high death rate for infants.
   
   After adjusting for comparative numbers of the animals, dogs are at least 200 times more likely to bite than are ferrets, according to data for 1978 to 1988 reported in the Journal of Veterinary Medicine and calculations based on estimated numbers of dogs and ferrets.
   
   
8. The Center for Disease Control describes ferrets as docile and catlike
   
   
9. In the thousands of years that ferrets have been domesticated, there has never been a case of a ferret transmitting rabies to a human. -Not ever!
   
   
10. The US Department of Agriculture, Smithsonian Institute, Museum of Natural History, as well as over 155 zoos and zoological societies all classify the ferret as domesticated. As such it cannot belong in a list of prohibited wildlife.
    
    
11. Banning ferrets is a waste of taxpayer dollars and governmental goodwill.
    

<< More Information On Ferrets