Whats the penalty for owning ferrets in California? Are people getting busted?
Maximum penalty is six months in jail, a fine of $1,000 — and the ferrets are destroyed. We don’t see many arrests locally, but Fish and Game does go on search-and-destroy missions in the Fresno-Bakersfield area. People do get in trouble when they’re in the public’s face. I got a call from a couple who got arrested because they were walking their ferrets down the Santa Monica Pier. Locally, a friend of mine’s boyfriend put her ferret on his shoulder and drove his truck around; he got arrested by the San Leandro police. Another dear friend in Niles has 25 ferrets; she got in an argument with her daughter, who called Fish and Game. My friend stalled Fish and Game at the front door because they didn’t have a search warrant, and we got all the ferrets out the back door. Family-dispute situations are frequent — someone tells a law-enforcement agency about ferrets because it’s the best way to hurt a person you’re mad at. What exactly is a ferret? Are there different species? How long have
