California Fish and Game Commission

MeetingTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2010

Prepared by:

PICKING UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF…

APRIL 6, 2000 FISH AND GAME COMMISSION HEARING MEETING

It was explained during this meeting that a regulatory action by the Fish and Game Commission is considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act, requiring the preparation of an environmental document.

At the conclusion of the public testimony, the Commission directed the Californians for Ferret Legalization, as project proponents, to fund the preparation of the environmental document to assess the potential impact to the environment of this proposed action. The Commission would not be in a position to again consider this matter until such an environmental document was prepared.

THE REPORT

Prepared by G. O. Graening, Ph.D., MSEDepartment of Biological SciencesCalifornia State University, Sacramento

September 13, 2010

HERE’S WHERE WE STAND NOW…

and we’re ready for the next step!

A Little Background

In 1933, ferrets were banned in California by the Fish

and Game Commission and the Department of Food and Agriculture, presumably as wild animals.

Legalization efforts have been under way since 1986.

Why Prohibit a Domestic Pet?Since 1933, ferrets have been classified as detrimental mammals because they have not been determined by the Fish and Game Commission to be normally domesticated in California. Because of this, they are seen as posing a threat to native wildlife and agriculture, as well as to public health and safety. Existing law prohibits importation and possession of ferrets in California.

Numerous studies have shown that dogs and cats can damage wildlife and agriculture, and at times have posed threats to public health and safety, yet they are not regulated by the Fish and Game Commission.

California is almost alone in banning ferrets.

What is a Domestic Ferret?

The ferret is a domesticated mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur, have an average length of 20 inches (51 cm) including a 5-inch (13 cm) tail, weigh about 1.5 to 4 pounds (0.7 to 2 kg), and have a natural lifespan of 7 to 10 years. Several other small, elongated carnivorous mammals belonging to the family Mustelidae (weasels) also have the word ferret in their common names, including an endangered species, the Black-Footed Ferret. The history of the ferret's domestication is uncertain, like that of most other domestic animals, but it is likely that ferrets have been domesticated for at least 2,500 years. They are still used for hunting rabbits in someparts of the world, but increasingly they are being kept simply as pets.

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret

Definitions aside …

Ferrets are part of the family.

Why do we want them legal?

We love our ferrets – they are part of our families.

We are tired of living in fear of losing our pets.

The current law is based on antiquated information about ferrets and needs to be updated with today’s fact-based language.

Ferrets Got a Bum Rap from California

Pet European Ferrets, A Hazard to Public Health, Small Livestock and Wildlife, 1988 by the California Department of Health Services

… “Indeed, ferrets sometimes unleash frenzied, rapid-fire bite and slash attacks on infants, usually on their heads and throats, and sometimes inflict hundreds of bites.”

How Others View Ferrets

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines ferrets as domestic.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) also recognizes ferrets as domestic pets, as does the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). HSUS issued the following policy statement regarding ferrets as companion animals in 1996:  

“The HSUS recognizes that domestic ferrets have become increasingly popular as pets in recent years and can be kept

legally as pets in nearly every state.”

What are the Issues?

Wildlife Agriculture Human Health and Safety

Wildlife

Over the last 14 years, in every survey done in all 50 states before they legalized ferrets, no evidence of feral ferrets was found anywhere at any time."Discussions (by telephone) with personnel in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, South Carolina and Wyoming elicited no evidence of feral colonies of ferrets or of any significant survival of the animals in the wild, nor of reported impact on native wildlife caused by escaped domestic ferrets.This is consistent with the reports from various state wildlife agencies included in the California Domestic Ferret Association compilation.“

Ferrets: a Selective Overview of Issues and OptionsPrepared By Kenneth W. Umbach, Ph.D.

Agriculture

The literature documents that ferrets may have impacted European poultry production, especially in the late 19th and early 20th century. The literature is largely devoid of any instances of ferrets impacting agricultural resources in the United States.

For the most part, the United States has phased out household poultry and egg production and now relies almost exclusively on commercial facilities (confined animal feeding operations). These facilities may be better protected from predators than traditional domestic henhouses and coops.

Agriculture

Questionnaires of agricultural departments in the United States have not revealed any major opposition to ferrets; where agricultural agency personnel have responded negatively to ferret legalization, their concerns focused on the risk of ferrets biting humans or on the risk of ferrets establishing feral breeding populations, and not on the impact to agricultural resources. This issue may not need to be analyzed further in the EIR.

Human Health and Safety

Ferrets have a propensity to bite for various reasons. The frequency of ferret bites has not been demonstrated to be greater than the rates for dogs or cats, whose bite frequencies are considered to be acceptable risks that are outweighed by the benefits of their companionship. Serious ferret attacks appear to be rare and to be confined to infants and others who cannot defend themselves against a small animal. In most cases of serious attacks, the pet owners were not aware of the risks of leaving an unattended child near a ferret.

Human Health and Safety

Mitigation measures might include mandatory warning labels at points of sale, public outreach, and more radically, the ban of ferrets from homes with infants, elderly, or handicapped, and the euthanization of ferrets proven to cause serious injury.

The CSUS questionnaire of health departments in the United States has not revealed any major opposition to ferret ownership; where agency personnel did comment, their concern focused on infants left unsupervised with ferrets. Provided that effective mitigation measures are incorporated into a legalization action, this potential impact upon human health could be reduced to a less-than-significant level. This issue may not need to be analyzed further in the EIR.

Reasons to Legalize Ferrets are already here!

PIJAC (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council) claims 27 percent of the nation’s ferret supplies are sold in California.

This brings about $5,000,000 annually to the state of California.

No feral populations, or harm to agriculture, the environment or public health, have been reported.

Bring it into the open

People are reluctant to seek veterinary care including vaccinations for their ferrets, for fear of being reported and losing their pets.

California’s past response

Bad Laws Undermine Government Authority

There have been no citations issued for ferrets in California this year.

“The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Legalize Ferrets

This issue has been going on since 1986. Since then, all other states except Hawaii have legalized

ferret ownership without any negative effects. LegalizeFerrets.org has the environmental documents

requested by the state. We ask that you proceed with the next step toward ferret

legalization.