17 replies to this topic

[ilovescooter1]

Wow that's really wierd.

[LunarFlame]

Ferrets are illegal in cali and other places because people are VERY misinformed.

People believe ferrets carry rabies--when infact yout cat or dog is more likely to have rabies than a ferret is.

People also believe that if they get loose they could cause environmental issues, which is also a misconception. Ferrets are domesticated and cannot live without humans. They die in the wild.

So unfortunatly, people's stupidity are the reasons ferrets are illegal in some places.

[jm0277]

I remember reading a story, years back, about how an animal testing lab in the UK was broken into by animal rights activists who let out cages and cages of mink . Ironically, the mink bred in the wild and wreaked havoc on the environment and help towards pushing wild water voles almost to extinction...or I think it was water voles...Captive breeding and habitat preservation efforts are now helping to boost munbers. But mink are wild animals, unlike ferrets, whcih never develop a hunting instinct if they don't develop a taste for meat...I don't really understand making ferrets illigal and I certainly don't understand hamsters being illegal...
But, at the same time, I can understand wanting to preserve indiginous species. And in countries like Autralia and New Zealand, where the species are very specialized and have for hundrends of thousands of years been isolated from outside species, I understand how something as small as a virus or a single seed carried on a speck of dirt could have disastrous consequences for the local ecosystem...You've got to think about what the consequences could be for the local species, too.