Where is the ferret legal?

Family Mustelidae-All species (D)

Exceptions are otters only.

How this rule works: § 671(b) defines (D) detrimental and (W) welfare. § 671.1(a) lists permit types; none covers pet keeping. The only possession permit, Animal Care, requires lawful possession in California before January 1992.

Mustela putorius furo

Named on Part A, which is headed FOR RESEARCH AND EXHIBITION. A university or licensed exhibitor can hold one by permit; a pet keeper cannot, and no pet permit exists. This is the origin of Hawaii's well known ferret ban.

How this rule works: Part A animals may be brought in by a university or a licensed exhibitor under permit and may not be kept as pets. Part B, published separately as AR-71RB, is the private and commercial use list and was checked as well: it runs to hoofed stock, giraffes, otters, seals, macropods and three named parrots, and contains none of the animals in this dataset.

No person shall sell or give to another person, possess, harbor, keep, or yard wild or other animals identified in this section ... other than in: (i) a zoological park or aquarium ...; or (ii) a laboratory ...; or (iii) a veterinary hospital ...; or (iv) a temporary exhibit, performance or display that has been issued a permit by the Commissioner. ... For the purposes of this Code, a wild animal is deemed to be any animal which is naturally inclined to do harm and capable of inflicting harm upon human beings and all such animals are hereby prohibited ... Such animals shall also include: (i) any animals specified by the Commissioner in regulations ...; (ii) any native or exotic wildlife whose possession or sale is prohibited because they are designated as protected or endangered pursuant to any federal, state or local law, regulation, or rule; and (iii) any of the following animals:

Named at the end of a clause covering "All fur bearing mammals of the family Mustelidae", and the naming is what matters, because a ferret is not obviously an animal "naturally inclined to do harm" under the standard the section opens with. New York City is the most-litigated ferret ban in the country and the text is unambiguous. § 161.01(d) is worth knowing alongside the prohibition: a prohibited animal may be seized by any authorized city employee, the owner has three business days to request a hearing, and with the Department's written consent the animal may be removed to a jurisdiction where it is not prohibited. That last provision is the closest thing to relief in the article.

How this rule works: A city rule that is stricter than any state on this map, and it works in three layers. It opens with a standard rather than a list, deeming a wild animal to be "any animal which is naturally inclined to do harm and capable of inflicting harm upon human beings". It then adds, at (b)(ii), any wildlife protected or endangered under federal, STATE or local law, which imports New York State's protected wildlife scheme into the city wholesale. And it closes with 24 numbered clauses that work mostly by family: all cats other than Felis catus and their hybrids, all dogs other than Canis familiaris, all Mustelidae including the ferret by name, all squirrels, all marsupials, all large rodents, all Boidae, all Pythonidae, all Varanidae, all Iguanidae, all teiidae, all Chelydridae, all venomous spiders including the tarantula by name, and all turtles under four inches. § 161.01(c) is the short answer to what is left: gerbil, hamster, guinea pig, domesticated rabbit, and small birds such as parakeet, parrot, canary and finch.

Mammals: i. Ferrets - Mustela pertorius furo;

The domestic ferret is answered by name on the 4.3 permit list rather than by the catch-all. It is the first mammal on the list, spelled "Mustela pertorius furo" for Mustela putorius furo. The list is written by family as often as by species, and 4.3 is open-ended, "include, but are not limited to", so being on it settles the permit question but not being on it settles nothing. The permit is the individual hobby permit at 4.6(a)1, subject to the general possession criteria at 4.7. New Jersey is one of the states where the ferret is a permit animal rather than a banned one or a free one, so the answer is neither of the two extremes people expect from the ferret map.

How this rule works: The Division's handout of the 4.3 permit list. It is open-ended, 'include, but are not limited to', and works by family as often as by species, so Pythonidae, Boidae, Lampropeltis, Varanus, Scincidae and Gekkonidae each answer several pet species at once.

Ferret (Mustela putorius). Note: Possession of a ferret does not require obtaining an exotic animal possession permit. Possession of a ferret does require a ferret possession permit issued through the Division of Fish & Wildlife.

Rhode Island is the state that most people miss on ferrets: they are not banned, but they carry their own dedicated permit.

How this rule works: One of the most species-specific schemes in the country. § 3.6 defines domestic animals, § 3.7 sets general prohibitions, § 3.9 governs permits, and § 3.17 is the long exempt list of animals that need no exotic animal possession permit. Anything not domestic, not native and not on the § 3.17 list needs a permit.

The following wild animals are subject to licensing requirements pursuant to O.C.G.A. Sec. 27-5-4. (a) Mammals ... 3. Order Carnivora (weasels, ferrets, cats, bears, wolves, etc.) - All species, except that European ferret (Mustela putorius furo) may be sold, purchased, exhibited, or held as a pet without a license or permit ... 7. Orders Diprotodontia and Peramelemorphia (Marsupials) - All species except that Petaurus breviceps (sugar glider) may be sold, purchased, exhibited, or held as a pet without a license or permit ... 8. Order Erinaceopmorpha (hedgehogs) - All species ... 10. Order Lagomorpha (Rabbits, hares, etc) - All species ... 16. Order Rodentia (rats, mice, etc.) - All species except Genera Cavia, Chinchilla, Gerbillus, Meriones, Mesocricetus, and species Mus musculus, Rattus rattus, and Rattus norvegicus

One of only two animals in the whole Georgia scheme with an express pet exception written into the rule. The European ferret "may be sold, purchased, exhibited, or held as a pet without a license or permit", on two documented conditions: sexual neutering before seven months of age, and rabies vaccination with a USDA-approved ferret vaccine, with valid documentation of both in the owner's possession. Without the paperwork the animal falls back to Order Carnivora, where no pet licence exists.

How this rule works: Georgia sorts wild animals into three tiers and none of them is a pet tier. Rule .03 prohibits outright, and its only pet-relevant entry is the monk parakeet. Rule .04 is inherently dangerous animals needing a licence AND liability insurance: all Felidae, four canid genera, bears, hyenas, kangaroos, great apes, crocodilians, the venomous snake families and a short list of fish and scorpions. Rule .05 requires a licence, and it works by taxonomic order rather than by species, which is why it is so wide: all Carnivora, all hedgehogs, all lagomorphs, all marsupials, all primates, and all rodents except six named genera. The thing to read before any of it is O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4(b)(1), because it says who a licence is issued to: the wild animal trade and public exhibitors, plus no-cost permits for science, education, a capuchin monkey for a person with a permanent disability, and grass carp for a pond owner. No pet. So an animal on .04 or .05 is not a permit animal for a keeper, it is a no, and the rule proves it by writing express "may be held as a pet without a license" exceptions for exactly two animals, the European ferret and the sugar glider.

A person may possess a ferret (mustela furo or mustela putorium furo) for the following purposes:— (1) As a household pet; provided, however, that such pet has been at the time of purchase neutered or spayed and has received inoculation against distemper and rabies or other inoculations that the director may require; and provided, further, that evidence of neutering, spaying and inoculation is kept available for inspection by the director.

Legal as a household pet on three conditions that all attach at purchase: neutered or spayed, inoculated against distemper and rabies, and documentary evidence of both kept available for inspection. Breeding is a separate licence at not less than $1,000 a year under § 77(2). The section closes with a hunting prohibition that has teeth in an unexpected way: merely having a ferret in a place where birds or mammals may be found makes the keeper liable to its penalties.

How this rule works: Massachusetts legalised the pet ferret by statute in 1996 and attached the conditions to the purchase rather than to a permit: neutered or spayed at the time of purchase, inoculated against distemper and rabies, and evidence of both kept available for inspection. 321 CMR 9.02(2)(b) points here rather than treating the ferret as an ordinary domestic animal, which is why the ferret is the one conditional entry on an otherwise binary domestic list. Breeding is a separate licence at not less than $1,000 a year under § 77(2). The section also makes merely having a ferret where birds or mammals may be found evidence of hunting with it, which is a real trap for anyone who takes one outdoors.

Keeping one is unrestricted, but breeding needs a permit, with an exemption for hobby breeders holding up to four ferrets aged six months or more, or a litter under five months kept temporarily for recreational purposes.

How this rule works: Michigan splits this across three bodies of law: the Large Carnivore Act, the Wolf-dog Cross Act, and Part 413 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. Penalties run to misdemeanour charges, fines up to $2,000 per animal and forfeiture.

Furbearer includes, but is not limited to, red and gray fox, raccoon, opossum, muskrat, mink, skunk, otter, bobcat, weasel, and beaver;

The domestic ferret is not named, but the list is expressly not exhaustive and it does name mink and weasel, the ferret's closest relatives. Ferrets are also absent from the § 50-16-60 pet trade exemption list, which names hamsters, guinea pigs and gerbils. Worth a call to DNR before importing one.

How this rule works: § 50-16-20 requires a permit to bring in certain groups of live wildlife, chiefly furbearers, cervids, pigs, bovids, coyote, bear and turkey. § 50-16-60 then exempts a named list of pet trade animals from even that.