Posted on 03/20/2007 8:35:32 AM PDT by pissant
Ferrets, rejoice.
Or at least, breathe what may be a short-lived sigh of relief.
The New York City Council voted 26 to 13 yesterday, with 7 abstentions, to end the bandit status of the small, furry cousin of the weasel, mink and skunk. But the bill legalizing ferrets as pets failed to pass by a veto-proof margin, and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has not been shy about the fact that he is no ferret lover.
''The fight isn't over,'' said Carol Rainey, a Chelsea filmmaker who owns two ferrets.
The ferret legalization bill caused an unusually emotional, party-fracturing and, at times, humorous debate yesterday in the Council chambers, which was marked by alternating hissing and applause from Ms. Rainey and about 25 other ferret owners who assembled in the balcony for the show.
Councilman Noach Dear, an Orthodox Jew and Democrat from Brooklyn, said he could not vote in favor of the legalization of ferrets as pets for a simple reason: he was reminded by his rabbi that they are not kosher.
Councilwoman Una S. T. Clarke and Councilman A. Gifford Miller disagreed over whether rabbits and human babies smell alike, after a suggestion by some opponents of legalization that ferrets were once bred to hunt out and attack bunnies.
''My baby does not smell like a rabbit,'' said Mr. Miller, a Manhattan Democrat and proud father of a 6-month-old child, evoking an outburst of cheers and applause from the balcony. ''I have no problem then with a ferret spending time with my baby, because he will be safe,'' he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at query.nytimes.com ...
I don't blame him for vetoing it. Ferret's are vicious man-eating wild animals. It's sort of like making a pet of a bobcat, wolf, or raccoon.
I gotta admit that is funny! LOL!
Please don't, we'll need you here once the 08 silly season is finished.
I think the Ferrets Union should unite with the IAFF and form the new coalition FU-IAFF, and write another proposed critical letter to RG on behalf of the DNC.
...And when they came for the ferrets, I did not stand up, for I was not a ferret...
There were 46 votes present and evidently 7 had to abstain because they could not figure out which way the ferret wind was blowing in districts that they represented. Now that could be the definition of a political weasel, one who cannot vote up or down on the ferret question.
Why NOT? Don't those Ferrets realise that Rudy is the only one who can beat Hillary? Do you think those ferrets want to live in a country with Clinton as President?
Surely they will understand that Giuliani, as President, will not ban ferrets. That's a local and state matter.
Remember, as Mayor of New York City, Giuliani really had no choice but to ban ferrets -- it's what the mayor is expected to do.
Anyway, banning ferrets was the right thing to do for the city. Sure, it goes against our freedoms, but people have to realise that freedom has to be tempered by protection, that sometimes people don't really know what they want, and the good conservative thing to do is to save them from themselves. The end justifies the means.
Uh, no. Domesticated ferrets are very playful, friendly critters, once neutered...and they're legally REQUIRED to be neutered. I've handled a good many and never been bitten yet, which is better than I can say for cats, dogs, mice, or rats, all of which I've had as pets.
Now, I've had them try to steal my weddding ring off my finger, the decorative zipper off a shirt, the real zipper off a jacket, and the sunglasses off my face before...they're inveterate thieves. But, thus far, the worst injury gotten was a very much accidental graze from a claw allowed to grow too long.
Second, two great quotes from the article:
Councilman Thomas V. Ognibene of Queens, the Council's top-ranking Republican, acknowledged that his daughter, who is a veterinarian, advised him that ferrets were no more dangerous than household pets. But he then said that he was voting against the legalization for purely political reasons. ''I discussed this thoroughly with the people who matter,'' he said, referring to the Giuliani administration.
''It is ridiculous that this Council has had to spend its time on this issue,'' Mr. Miller said. ''But the reason is the administration has gone out of its way to invent a ridiculous policy.'
So apparently the Giuliani Administration banned Ferrets, thus requiring the city council to waste their time trying to un-ban them. Not exactly a small-government-conservative position.
My daughter really wants a ferret, so she wrote a 10-page report she submitted to my wife and I explaining how great they were.
Especially if ferrets could endanger his friends gerbil population.
Keeping ferrets as pets has been illegal in NYC since 1959 -- Rudy had nothing to do with the creation of this law. I really doubt Rudy cared much one way or the other whether ferrets were legalized, and was probably just backing the Health Department's position, on the grounds that they had the most knowledge of the matter, and little incentive to make extra work for themselves in enforcing the ferret ban if there wasn't a good reason for it. Given the level of discussion that reportedly went on in the city council (my rabbi says I can't vote to legalize them because they're not kosher, babies smell like rabbits and so ferrets might attack them, etc.), it's little wonder Giuliani preferred to back the Health Department's position.
Personally, I think the anti-ferret law is unnecessary, and that the Health Commissioner who Giuliani backed, was just being obstinate. But Giuliani's point was that the matter should be handled through the Health Department, which has the authority to change the classification of ferrets, and not by the City Council. If Giuliani sometimes seemed overly passionate about maintaining the ferret ban, I suspect it was because he was annoyed at the amount of time being spent on this trivial issue by levels of government which should have been busy with much higher priorities.
The City Council initiated a move to lift the ferret ban in 1999, when Giuliani was mayor, and I think he got it firmly fixed in his mind at that point, that this was a Health Department matter that the City Council shouldn't be wasting its time on, and he stuck with that position. His widely quoted remarks on his call-in radio program suggested that he was simply fed up with the whole thing, both the City Council's involvement and some of the screwball New Yorkers who seemed to be making a full-time job of being passionate pro-ferret activists:
Addressing caller David Guthartz, executive president of New York Ferrets' Rights Advocacy, Giuliani said: "There is something deranged about you ... this excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness ... you should go consult a psychologist or a psychiatrist with this excessive concern, how you are devoting your life to weasels. You need somebody to help you. There are people in this city and in this world that need a lot of help. Something has gone wrong with you."
Frank Burns was not pleased.
Breaking News...... The Giuliani campaign has learned of the ferret controversy. Tonight Rudy will appear appear on with Sean Hannity and pledge to appoint only Pro-Ferret justices to the supreme court. He will also address distubing allegations about his previous judicial nominations. A Giuliani spokesman said that due to the unique nature of NYC, there were no Pro-Ferret judges to choose from. Sean will ask pointed questions like "What do ferrets eat anyway?"
weasels ripped my flesh *ping*
Rudy is a littul nutty?
Just discovered the thread. Oh man He's gonna bring the fun to the campaign
From Giuliani comes a revealing rant Temper, thin skin may hurt candidate
Do you still have ferrets?
We have six of them.
Kept on collecting them.
I think Rudy’s rant over ferrets is so funny.
People have many misconceptions about the little guys.
I thought of this musical number....
“IF YOU COULD SEE HER THROUGH MY EYES”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsfCe5-nEkw
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