STATE’S FISH AND GAME COMMISSION TO CONSIDER LEGALIZING FERRET OWNERSHIP, FOLLOWING EFFORTS OF LA MESA RESIDENT
By Karen Pearlman
Photos courtesy of Legalize Ferrets
Photo: Pat Wright with a ferret friend
March 18, 2025 (La Mesa) -- Eight years after persuading the city of La Mesa to become a sanctuary city for ferrets, Pat Wright is on a mission next to legalize ferret ownership statewide.
Wright and his nonprofit group, Legalize Ferrets, have attained a key milestone in the quest to remove domestic ferrets from the state’s list of restricted species.
Wright said the California Fish and Game Commission has officially accepted the Legalize Ferret petition for a regulation change along with a comprehensive set of exhibits to back it up, and that the case will be heard at the commission’s meeting, held over the course of two days next month.
At the CFGC April 16 and April 17 meeting, Wright said the group will decide whether to move it forward for further consideration at its two-day meeting in June, set for June 11 and June 12.
The biggest challenge for the group since its start two decades ago has been overcoming bureaucratic inertia, Wright said.
“Fish and Game has resisted change for decades, largely due to internal bias rather than science,” Wright said. “We need the Commissioners to act independently rather than defer to the outdated position of their staff. Another challenge is ensuring that our petition is evaluated based on scientific evidence and legal precedent, not politics or misinformation.”
Legalize Ferrets began in 2005 as a way to fight back against the state of California’s ban begun in 1933 led by a push from lobbyists in the agriculture industry on the animals being imported, sold, bred or possessed.
The organization started because of limited progress in legalizing the animals in the state. Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 vetoed a ferret amnesty bill.
The main reasons given for ferrets being allowed as companion animals has been said about the concern over them escaping and forming invasive groups that could threaten native wildlife.
Photo, right: Huey the ferret
A 2022 report from the California Fish and Wildlife Scientific Journal said that “the impacts of ferrets upon native wildlife and ecosystems, agribusiness, and human health and safety were compiled from a thorough review of the published literature and the analysis of four surveys of U.S. state agencies...
“Results highlight two primary concerns: the ferret can easily escape confinement, and could impact native bird populations, as do feral cats; and human safety concerns, especially with infants, because of the proclivity of the ferret to bite.”
Wright called the acceptance of the group’s petition by the CFGC “a significant milestone.”
“In the past, our efforts to legalize ferrets were often dismissed outright without serious consideration,” he said. “This time, we have forced the Commission to acknowledge our petition under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), meaning they are legally required to respond. This is the closest we've ever been to getting a fair hearing on the issue.”
Wright said the APA requires government agencies to follow due process when making or changing regulations.
“This time, they can't just brush us off without a legitimate response,” he said. “We believe our petition is ironclad, backed by legal and scientific evidence proving domestic ferrets do not belong on the prohibited species list. However, we also know how creative they can be when it comes to dismissing us.”
Wright said the group’s strongest evidence includes the legal definition of domestication, that state law defines a domestic animal as one that has been selectively bred under human control for generations.
He said ferrets have been domesticated for more than 2,000 years and are recognized as domestic in every other U.S. state and country worldwide.
Wright also said the animals do not pose an environmental threat, that peer-reviewed studies and state wildlife agencies across the country confirm that feral ferret populations have never been established in the U.S.
As for public safety, he said, “Ferrets are no more dangerous than cats or dogs. Bite statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies show that ferrets are responsible for far fewer reported injuries than common pets.”
Additionally, a federally approved ferret rabies vaccine exists, “countering the outdated argument that ferrets pose a unique rabies risk,” he said.
Opponents of ferret legalization have cited concerns about ecological risks and public health, but Wright counters those arguments with legal and scientific data, including:
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has never provided evidence that domestic ferrets can survive in the wild; and Wright said that unlike wild mustelids (such as weasels and minks) domestic ferrets lack survival instincts, hunting skills and camouflage.
Wright said the CDC has never issued a public health warning about ferrets despite their legal status in nearly every state and that ferret bites account for less than 1% of all reported pet-related injuries.
If the Commission moves forward, it will begin the formal rulemaking process, and if the petition is rejected in June, Wright said Legalize Ferrets will pursue legal action under the APA.
“The Fish and Game Commission cannot ignore our rights to petition for a rule change,” he said. “If necessary, we will take this matter to court to force them to follow the law.”
For now, ferret advocates and supporters can help push this effort forward by submitting public comments, contacting state legislators, spreading awareness and donating to Legalize Ferrets.
The second dog I met was Depp [think Johnny] who only had one eye. Depp (photo,left) was part of a group of dogs that TAP rescued from the Bahamas. In the Bahamas and parts of the Caribbean, they call these mix-breed dogs “potcakes”. Depp also came in very fearful, but Botticelli herself worked with him, and this potcake has slowly been coming out of his shell. He shyly greeted me.
