New York City mayor Bill DeBlasio is set to reverse a semi-controversial ban on ferret ownership instituted by Rudy Giuliani in 1999. From the New York Times:
Officials with the health department said on Tuesday that they would recommend lifting the ban, as long as certain requirements for spaying and vaccination were put in place. The board, now led by Mr. de Blasio’s health commissioner, Dr. Mary T. Bassett, is set to begin considering the proposal by summer’s end.
The move was prompted by a ferret enthusiast in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Ariel Jasper, who petitioned the city to reconsider the ban. Ms. Jasper, a master’s student at Brooklyn College, said she was emboldened by Mr. de Blasio’s outspoken opposition to the use of horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.
One of the requirements for ferret ownership will likely be “removal of a ferret’s anal glands, which can produce an unpleasant scent.” Is this just another sellout to the powerful anal-gland-removal lobby?
