Pets Hunters

Check local laws on ferret ownership

According to estimates from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, about 500,000 people own some 2 million ferrets. Ferret folks claim the real numbers are much higher.

But ferrets, those slinky, mink-y cousins of weasels, badgers, skunks and polecats, are outlawed in New York , Salt Lake City and numerous other municipalities, and the states of California and Hawaii and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

"It's because they believe they're wild animals and they believe they'll decimate the wildlife. These are neutered and spayed animals," said an exasperated Norine Barnes, president of the Greater Chicago Ferret Association, which has about 275 members and runs a shelter for ferrets, which are legal in Illinois.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals agrees. It opposed the 1999 ban on ferrets in New York.

Source: Chicago Tribune