It's an important step to take. I don't own a ferret, but my only experiences with them have been positive. I do know a number of people who do, and they ought not live in fear of prosecution when ferrets are legal in 48 other states. They say the general public isn't ready for full-scale legalization. They worry that if the critters were sold in pet stores, every Joe Shmo in California would rush out and buy one just because they're cute.
Ferrets are much more delicate than a dog or a cat.
Previous attempts to legalize the domesticated European polecat have failed. Cunneen, however, believes his bill may be the one to decriminalize California's littlest outlaws. I'm trying to find some common ground between the extremists at the Department of Fish and Game who label the ferret as a wild animal, and those ferret owners who would like to have ferrets legalized in every way. Veterinary treatment for the four-legged fugitives is widely and openly available, too. As a group, Hoban says, her fellow vets are perplexed by the controversy.