Why are ferrets illegal in some places!?

Question

I just read a question about them being illegal in California, is this true? If so, Why?

Answer 1

Please dint listen to this they eat babies nonsense.

Ferrets are illegal in many places because they are often unvaccinated and can carry rabies along with other dieseases, rabies has close to a 100% fatality rate when its untrated and so ferrets are considered extremely dangerous.

Dogs and cats are culturally established pets so there are plenty of veterinarians ready to treat (and vaccinate them) ferrets are not so they are limited to areas where they are already popular and generally those areas will slowly expand as more and more health services become available to ferrets.

Answer 2

Because they are considered wild animals. they are also illegal in NY, i really want one too...

Answer 3

Ive owned ferrets.  the reason why they are banned in california is because they are not native to california.  they are bred in captivity, and the climate of california is not good for them.  im from Cali, and wasnt able to buy one there because they are considered wildlife animals.  here in Texas they are legal, and i owned one.  they shouldnt be in hot temperatures....and thats another reason they arent allowed in cali.

Answer 4

I don't know if it's true, but ferrets are known to attack small children... so they're not really good pets.

Answer 5

because they can ruin gardens and other things in a house, maybe in a house that isnt even yours. also i guess they could be considered unhygenic?

Answer 6

well whats funny is ferrets are one of the only mammal pets that are native to america but they are like mongoose and are avid hunters and such...they can be mean but killing babies is a bit silly...ive tried feeding my daughter to my ferrets and they just jump around (supervised only) they can go feral if let out and are territotial.but even a large ferret would get eaten by a normal sized cat....all in all i think its alotta hype having owned several...rats are more likely to damage property and ppl then ferrets.

Answer 7

they have been known to eat babies. they attack them and in some cases have killed a baby. you can look up a state that made it a law there and see. but I think they carry disease too

Answer 8

it does sucks that you cant own one in CA and in other states because they are illegal.

but why? they are cute,friendly,harmless and the 3rd best animal friend besides dog & cat.

and idk why they sale tarantulas,pythons those are dangerous!

they are more of a threat to the wild life not ferrets. it just upsets me.

Answer 9

they breed easily and can cause a lot of damage to crops. i have seen what one ferrit can do to a home & i would hate to see 50 of them outside. some of them can be quite mean. not all just some.

i have been hearing more apartments not allowing ferrits in our area. i don't think it will be long until they are banned here as well.

Answer 10

cuse they are annoying to people.

Answer 11

It's not like Department of Fish and Game (DF&G) is hanging out at Pet

Stores looking for people buying ferret supplies, and then jotting down

your license number to track you to your home. Most of the time it's

people getting turned in by a new landlord, a vindictive ex, a mean

neighbor or someone just being completely ignorant about the laws in

California. There have also been a few cases of being in the wrong

place at the wrong time and the ferret ends up seized.

Yes, it is a risky proposition having your ferret in California. You do live

with that little cloud of fear hanging over your head that sometimes

makes you think "Will today be the day that I'm found out?" But if you keep your head

down and use common sense the chances of getting caught with your illegal ferret(s) is

a slim one.

As to why ferrets are illegal in California: there is no scientific reason for it. In 1933

ferrets were mistakenly put on the prohibited wildlife list when DF&G was formed. Other

states made this mistake and over time, have rectified it by removing the Domestic

Ferret from the wildlife list. Why not California? It pretty much boils down to the fact

that they don’t want to admit they are wrong and they get a lot of money by being

wrong. Sierra Club, Audubon and other organizations, for whatever reason, keep

pumping money to California DF&G for keeping ferrets illegal. Never mind the fact that

they never spoke up in other states where ferrets were illegal (Massachusetts comes to

mind).

To keep ferrets illegal, DF&G has come up with a number of reasons over the years.

No rabies vaccine, a lie which was answered by a lawsuit by the makers of Imrab, no

distemper vaccine, which has since been taken off their list of excuses, violent towards

children, which is backed by California Health Services, (wonder where New York city

got their ideas), and of course the "fact" that ferrets can go feral. So what if DF&G can't

find a real source to back up these “facts”? They make one up

of course! Easy to do when you are getting all sorts of money

to keep ferrets illegal. So why doesn't anyone see through

these tactics? Well, unless you have taken the time to actually

verify DF&G claims, you wouldn't necessarily know since

technically they are supposed to be telling the truth. Granted it

doesn't take too long using the internet to verify some of their

"claims" but for some people (those overseeing DF&G) this is

still too long.

Answer 12

I think it is because ferrets can hurt people. They can bite you a lot and the leave marks, somtimes they can make you bleed.