Ferrets weasel into Californians’ hearts
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 4, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 MICHAEL MANTEL Missy the ferret plays with her owner,
Jennifer Zdenek. The pair has lived together in
Westwood for two years, despite the fact that owning a ferret is
illegal in California.
By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Staff
According to the Department of Fish and Game, hundreds of
thousands of ferret owners have little problem weaseling their
furry domestic companions into California, despite ferret
possession being a misdemeanor under state law.
One Westwood resident and her fugitive ferret, Missy, have
managed to elude the ferret police and now call for ferret freedom
““ a message the California ferret legalization movement has
barked for years.
“Ferrets should not be illegal because it’s just
like a cat or a dog,” said Jennifer Zdenek, who lives in
Westwood and has been a ferret owner for two years.
“My cat would be more likely to hurt a person than
Missy,” she added.
European polecats, as ferrets are traditionally known, are
cousins of the weasel and have surpassed rabbits as the third most
popular pet in the country. Originally introduced to the U.S. for
hunting purposes, 300,000 of the 6 million ferrets estimated to be
currently residing in the the country curl up in California homes
according to the DFG.
Jeanne Carley was one of the founders of Californians for Ferret
Legalization in 1995 and has taken the reigns of the state’s
ferret legalization movement.
Carley’s organization has gathered tens of thousands of
signatures and has worked with California legislators over the past
seven years in hopes that one day Californians will be able to live
with a ferret without fear of being cited with the $1,000 fine or
six months in jail.
In 1933 ferrets were added to the state’s restricted
species list ““ a list that includes certain species of foxes,
lions and bears that are not native to California and that could
pose a threat to the state’s environment and wildlife.
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“There is a danger that any kind of predator such as a
ferret could get into the wild and affect our native
wildlife,” said Ron Jurek, a wildlife biologist who works for
the DFG.
According to Jurek, there was a small population of ferrets on
an island off the coast of Washington state that severely affected
the rabbit population on the island.
He said that a similar situation could repeat itself in
California because ferrets could pose a threat to endangered birds
in marsh areas of the state.
He added, however, that there has not been an official study in
California that would determine a ferret’s impact on native
wildlife or even if a domesticated ferret could survive outside of
human care.
He also said that ferrets are well known to be biters.
“That’s just the nature of the animal,” he
continued.
Mervin Hee, Regional Patrol Chief for the DFG Mervin Hee, is in
charge of enforcement of laws that protect wildlife resources and
the environment for Southern California. He had a personal
experience with a ferret and a child while working in San Joaquin
Valley, in which the child was attacked by the ferret.
“A ferret bit a child and the fire department had to cut
off the head of the ferret in order to remove it from the
child,” Hee said.
He said that ferret attacks, like dog or cat attacks, are
extremely rare and there has never been a death resulting from an
attack to his knowledge.
According to the DFG, California ferrets are mostly smuggled
from Reno and Las Vegas, Nev., where ferrets are legal.
Zdenek bought her kit, a baby ferret, in Las Vegas and smuggled
her across the California border.
“At the checkpoints on the border they just ask if you are
bringing fruits and plants with you, not ferrets,” Zdenek
said.
Hee said that action is primarily taken against ferret owners
only when they are reported to the DFG.
“The ferrets are reported to us and then we call the
ferret rescue team,” he said.
And even though the law prescribes that the ferrets can then be
destroyed, Hee said they never have.
A large number of pet stores, including Petco and Centinela Feed
and Pet Supplies, have realized the earning potential in California
and sell ferret supplies, despite ferrets being illegal in the
state.
Zdenek feeds her ferret primarily cat food but buys ferret
treats at local pet stores.
She said that although Missy loves to play and gets along great
with her cat and dog, ferrets do have their down sides.
“Missy stinks and she poops in the corners of the
apartment,” she said.
Ferrets emit a distinct odor but can be “de-stinked”
and spayed or neutered at private pet stores that are willing to
handle ferrets.
With the support of 13th District Assemblywoman Carole Migden,
Carley contributed to last year’s Senate Bill 1093 which
would start the process for ferret legalization by appropriating
money for an environmental impact report.
The bill has been suspended for over a year now and is still
awaiting further review.
