Underground Ferret Fanciers
I loved this article from The New York Times which reports on a campaign to lift the current ban on keeping a 'ferret' as a pet in the city that never sleeps.
Now given the fact that ferrets are burrowing animals and, in the wild, spend much of their lives underground, I find the notion of an Underground Ferret Community in the Big Apple hysterically funny.
Almost as funny as the exchange between the former New York Mayor, Rudy Giulani, and a ferret fancier from the New York Ferrets' Rights Advocacy, David Gutharz, which I'll publish in a separate post.
Ferret Fanciers, Ruffled by Ban, Are Eager for New York City to Lift It
By SARAH LYALL - The New York Times
Veronica F., 27, lives in Forest Hills, Queens, with her two clandestine ferrets, Watson and Nacho. CreditUli Seit for The New York Times
Since a bizarre incident in which Rudolph W. Giuliani verbally abused a ferret enthusiast on the radio a decade and a half ago, New York City’s ferret owners have been dealing with two major problems.
One: They are, technically, criminals.
Two: Everyone thinks they are insane.
“People see it as a dumb, silly issue: ‘Who cares, weasels?’ ” said Veronica F., whose two clandestine ferrets, Watson and Nacho, live with her in Queens. “There’s a notion that we all have some sort of mental problem.”
Now, ferret owners have a chance to change the law — and maybe remedy their reputation as well.
Last spring, perhaps trying to demonstrate the relative warmth and fuzziness of the current mayor, or perhaps simply pandering to the all-important small-mammal lobby, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administrationproposed removing ferrets from the city’s banned-pet list, a zoological rogues’ gallery that also includes rhinoceroses, bats and poisonous centipedes. (A public hearing on the proposal before the city’s Board of Health is scheduled for Jan. 21.)Photo
An owner with his pet outside the Wagner Houses in East Harlem.
CreditKarsten Moran for The New York Times
The possible policy shift sent a frisson of excitement through the city’s underground ferret community.
“I think of New York City as enlightened and progressive, and to have a rule in place that is so backward — I don’t understand it,” said Ariel Jasper, a member of New York Ferrets, a pro-ferret lobbying group.
Ferrets are legal in many places around the country, including the rest of New York State, she noted. But thanks to the ban, they remain hard to find and little understood in the city. (The health department says it has no idea how many there are.)
Ferrets are feisty, frisky, furry carnivores who have a unique musky smell and a way of expressing their happiness by “dooking” — making little noises of joy. They are cousins of weasels, but not weasels per se, a misconception propagated by Mr. Giuliani in 1999 when, speaking to an aggrieved ferret fancier in a now-classic exchange on his radio program, he lost his temper, called the man “deranged” and exclaimed, among other things: “This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness.”
Any change in ferret policy is subject to the approval of the Board of Health, whose members were all appointed by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. While no one at the board’s most recent meeting, on Dec. 9, accused anyone else of being mentally ill, neither did members seem thrilled about the prospect of a city teeming with pet ferrets.
“The issue of ferrets has come before the board several times during my tenure,” said one board member, Dr. Lynne D. Richardson, with some weariness. “I’m trying to understand why this is something we would support. What’s the upside?”
Mario Merlino, an assistant health commissioner, responded that rabies vaccines for ferrets were now much more effective than they had been in the past, and also that, under the proposal, ferrets would be sterilized and thus unable to produce baby ferrets.
But the board peppered him with anxious questions: Aren’t they prone to biting children? Isn’t there a risk they could squeeze into tiny crevices in people’s houses and sneak outside, forming feral ferret colonies in the streets?
No, and no, Mr. Merlino responded. At least as far as he knew.
He seemed underwhelmed by the proposal himself, repeatedly mentioning the lack of data on various issues and at one point saying that the health department was “recommending that we open it up for public comment” rather than “arguing for it so much.”
The temperature in the room seemed to lower by a couple of degrees when the ferret portion of the meeting concluded. Introducing the next item, on a less fraught topic, the city’s registrar, Steven P. Schwartz, said: “I will try to bring the conversation back down to earth.”
Such levity is insulting to ferret owners, who take the issue very seriously indeed. In Forest Hills, Veronica F., 27, explained why Watson and Nacho were excellent pets, and nothing like the hypothetical ferrets described at the hearing. (An illustrator for a video-game company, she insisted that her last name not be used, for fear of having her ferrets confiscated by the authorities).
Ferrets have the independence and walk-by-themselves tendencies of cats, but the playfulness of dogs, she said. They are very affectionate and like to snuggle. They weigh about two pounds and can fit easily into carrier bags. They sleep a lot, up to 18 hours a day, so they make perfect city pets: Owners can put them to bed in their cages and go to work without feeling guilty.
As for the notion expressed at the Board of Health meeting that ferrets might slip out through fissures in the walls in order to band together into outdoor gangs: Absurd, Veronica said.
“I was almost laughing out loud when they talked about the colonies,” she said. “Watson is the laziest, clumsiest ferret. He takes three steps and he just plops down. He crashes into walls. I can’t imagine this creature surviving two seconds on his own.”
Nacho and Watson, who are house-trained (and also deaf, a common ferret malady), are indeed exceptionally cuddly, able to curl up small or stretch out long, like Slinkies.
They are also eager to burrow into visitors’ handbags. “Ferrets like to collect things,” she said. “Nacho has this stockpile of toys that he keeps. Watson likes to take water bottles and hide them.”
Dean S., a 52-year-old ferret owner in Brooklyn who also insisted that his last name not be used, said it was irksome and sad to have to keep his two ferrets a secret. Unable to take them on the street, he said, he clips on their leashes and walks them indoors.
“I don’t want to advertise them, because of this stupid law that we have,” he said in a telephone interview. “You might meet up with the wrong person outside.”
Ms. Jasper, of New York Ferrets, said the law had created many problems for sub rosa ferret owners. Some are afraid to take their animals to the veterinarian, lest the vet report them, and so must contend with sick or dying ferrets. Vets who do agree to treat them are often unschooled in ferrets’ particular medical needs, she said, adding that they tend to overcharge.
She also said that the unflattering image of ferret owners — that they are a little bit nuts — was as much the fault of the angry ferret lobbyist who sparred with Mr. Giuliani on the radio all those years ago as it was of Mr. Giuliani himself. Rather than being loud and attention-seeking, she said, ferret owners should fight the ban with cold, hard facts.
“The notion that they bite — that’s a really outdated view,” Ms. Jasper said. “You’re more likely to be bitten by a Yorkie than by a ferret.”
She also pointed out that nothing particularly alarming had happened yet in any of the many places where ferrets were legal.
“If there was a large outbreak of children being mauled by ferrets,” she added, “I think we’d hear about it.”
The possible policy shift sent a frisson of excitement through the city’s underground ferret community.
“I think of New York City as enlightened and progressive, and to have a rule in place that is so backward — I don’t understand it,” said Ariel Jasper, a member of New York Ferrets, a pro-ferret lobbying group.
Ferrets are legal in many places around the country, including the rest of New York State, she noted. But thanks to the ban, they remain hard to find and little understood in the city. (The health department says it has no idea how many there are.)
Ferrets are feisty, frisky, furry carnivores who have a unique musky smell and a way of expressing their happiness by “dooking” — making little noises of joy. They are cousins of weasels, but not weasels per se, a misconception propagated by Mr. Giuliani in 1999 when, speaking to an aggrieved ferret fancier in a now-classic exchange on his radio program, he lost his temper, called the man “deranged” and exclaimed, among other things: “This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness.”
Any change in ferret policy is subject to the approval of the Board of Health, whose members were all appointed by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. While no one at the board’s most recent meeting, on Dec. 9, accused anyone else of being mentally ill, neither did members seem thrilled about the prospect of a city teeming with pet ferrets.
“The issue of ferrets has come before the board several times during my tenure,” said one board member, Dr. Lynne D. Richardson, with some weariness. “I’m trying to understand why this is something we would support. What’s the upside?”
Mario Merlino, an assistant health commissioner, responded that rabies vaccines for ferrets were now much more effective than they had been in the past, and also that, under the proposal, ferrets would be sterilized and thus unable to produce baby ferrets.
But the board peppered him with anxious questions: Aren’t they prone to biting children? Isn’t there a risk they could squeeze into tiny crevices in people’s houses and sneak outside, forming feral ferret colonies in the streets?
No, and no, Mr. Merlino responded. At least as far as he knew.
He seemed underwhelmed by the proposal himself, repeatedly mentioning the lack of data on various issues and at one point saying that the health department was “recommending that we open it up for public comment” rather than “arguing for it so much.”
The temperature in the room seemed to lower by a couple of degrees when the ferret portion of the meeting concluded. Introducing the next item, on a less fraught topic, the city’s registrar, Steven P. Schwartz, said: “I will try to bring the conversation back down to earth.”
Such levity is insulting to ferret owners, who take the issue very seriously indeed. In Forest Hills, Veronica F., 27, explained why Watson and Nacho were excellent pets, and nothing like the hypothetical ferrets described at the hearing. (An illustrator for a video-game company, she insisted that her last name not be used, for fear of having her ferrets confiscated by the authorities).
Ferrets have the independence and walk-by-themselves tendencies of cats, but the playfulness of dogs, she said. They are very affectionate and like to snuggle. They weigh about two pounds and can fit easily into carrier bags. They sleep a lot, up to 18 hours a day, so they make perfect city pets: Owners can put them to bed in their cages and go to work without feeling guilty.
As for the notion expressed at the Board of Health meeting that ferrets might slip out through fissures in the walls in order to band together into outdoor gangs: Absurd, Veronica said.
“I was almost laughing out loud when they talked about the colonies,” she said. “Watson is the laziest, clumsiest ferret. He takes three steps and he just plops down. He crashes into walls. I can’t imagine this creature surviving two seconds on his own.”
Nacho and Watson, who are house-trained (and also deaf, a common ferret malady), are indeed exceptionally cuddly, able to curl up small or stretch out long, like Slinkies.
They are also eager to burrow into visitors’ handbags. “Ferrets like to collect things,” she said. “Nacho has this stockpile of toys that he keeps. Watson likes to take water bottles and hide them.”
Dean S., a 52-year-old ferret owner in Brooklyn who also insisted that his last name not be used, said it was irksome and sad to have to keep his two ferrets a secret. Unable to take them on the street, he said, he clips on their leashes and walks them indoors.
“I don’t want to advertise them, because of this stupid law that we have,” he said in a telephone interview. “You might meet up with the wrong person outside.”
Ms. Jasper, of New York Ferrets, said the law had created many problems for sub rosa ferret owners. Some are afraid to take their animals to the veterinarian, lest the vet report them, and so must contend with sick or dying ferrets. Vets who do agree to treat them are often unschooled in ferrets’ particular medical needs, she said, adding that they tend to overcharge.
She also said that the unflattering image of ferret owners — that they are a little bit nuts — was as much the fault of the angry ferret lobbyist who sparred with Mr. Giuliani on the radio all those years ago as it was of Mr. Giuliani himself. Rather than being loud and attention-seeking, she said, ferret owners should fight the ban with cold, hard facts.
“The notion that they bite — that’s a really outdated view,” Ms. Jasper said. “You’re more likely to be bitten by a Yorkie than by a ferret.”
She also pointed out that nothing particularly alarming had happened yet in any of the many places where ferrets were legal.
“If there was a large outbreak of children being mauled by ferrets,” she added, “I think we’d hear about it.”
