Furtive Still the Word for Ferret Fanciers

Californians who harbor pet ferrets will remain outlaws in the eyes of the state after a bill that originally sought to provide the critters “amnesty” faltered in the Legislature on Thursday.

The defeat came one day after pro-ferret activists presented Gov. Gray Davis with bundles of petitions urging him to give the weasel-like animals a break.

“It’s very disheartening,” said Jeanne Carley, executive director of Californians for Ferret Legalization. “But I’ll tell you one thing: You’re not going to see several hundred thousand ferrets pack up their knapsacks and walk out of this state. People want ferrets--they’re here to stay.”

California is one of two states that forbid keeping ferrets as pets--Hawaii is the other--and ferret owners had hoped this might be the year they progressed toward their long-held goal of full legalization.

A bill by Sen. Maurice Johannessen (R-Redding) initially proposed “amnesty” for ferrets already living in California and got the votes to clear the Senate. But the bill, SB 1093, ran into trouble in the Assembly.

First, the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee gutted it, replacing the amnesty provision with a requirement that state biologists merely study whether ferrets should become legal pets.

Then, on Thursday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee delivered the fatal blow, with its chairwoman, Assemblywoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), announcing, “This is a bad year for ferrets,” and halting the bill in its tracks.

An aide to Johannessen blamed the bill’s demise on opposition from the Davis administration, specifically, from state wildlife biologists who say ferrets pose a threat to birds and small mammals.

Though admirers call ferrets cuddly and harmless, the Department of Fish and Game describes them as sharp-toothed carnivores that have preyed on ground-nesting birds elsewhere in the world.

Belonging to the family that includes the badger, otter and mink, ferrets initially were used in Europe and England to hunt rabbits and also have been bred for their fur. Brought to the United States in 1875, they became popular as ships’ ratters, able to slip into tiny rodent hiding places.

In the 1970s and 1980s, their popularity as pets soared. Today, somewhere between 95,000 and 500,000 live secretly in California homes, although ferret possession is a misdemeanor. Despite ferrets’ outlaw status, many veterinarians treat them and pet stores stock ferret food and other supplies.

Ferret fans said this year’s setback would not deter them in their pursuit of eventual ferret legalization.

“There’s almost a ferret psychosis in the Department of Fish and Game, and I just don’t understand it,” Carley said. “But like any civil rights issue, when you have so much right on your side, the issue just won’t go away.”