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You read that right. Legislation specifically designed to protect ferrets -- mustela putorius furo. Sounds a little hokey for the 188-member Maryland General Assembly to be tackling, doesn't it?
Well, controversial bills come in all forms, and this one has been around since 2002.
Over the last week, it's caused some snickers among the more cynical members of the State House press corps (that's all of us), and among some legislators who believe state government should be finding better things to do with its time.
"It's not the proper role of good government to micromanage the care and feeding of ferrets," said Sen. Alex Mooney, a conservative-small-government-with-a-little-"g"-Republican who sits on the Judicial Proceedings Committee in the Senate, where the ferret act was heard. "What's next -- a bill telling you how many times to walk your dog?"
The bill would prevent the sale or transport of an unspayed or unneutered ferret under 10 weeks old, except to a breeder. A certificate confirming those details would have to accompany the sale of each ferret.
Additionally, ferrets 8 weeks old and younger could not be spayed or neutered.
If the law is broken, the violator could be charged with a misdemeanor and be fined as much as $100.
The legislation has variously been backed by a number of pro-ferret groups over the years.
This year the bill was introduced in the House by Delegate Susan McComas, R-Harford, and in the Senate by Sens. Norman Stone, D-Baltimore, and Kathy Klausmeier, R-Baltimore.
Three Frederick delegation members have signed on to the House bill in support: Delegates Joe Bartlett, Patrick Hogan and Don Elliott, all Republicans.
Mr. Bartlett in particular has a soft spot for the cute and furry little critters.
"In 1997, when I was single, I had a big fire at my house, and the only things I took out of my house were my two pet ferrets, Howie and Benny," he said, "so there's a personal side to that bill."
This year the main opposition to the act has come from organizations that use ferrets in medical research.
According to Lawrence Cunnick, president of Rockville-based Biocon, a company that specializes in providing small animals for research studies, ferrets are vital to influenza research. The animals apparently show all the same symptoms as humans, like fever, sneezing and malaise. And they are used in studies of infant and childhood diseases.
Banning ferret sale and transport "can prevent Maryland biotechnology companies from applying for (National Institutes of Health) and other federal research dollars," Mr. Cunnick wrote in testimony for the committee.
Even the Maryland Technology Council has weighed in, saying the bill would have "unintended consequences for the biomedical research community."
We asked Sen. Brian Frosh, the powerful chairman of the committee, what chances the ferret act may have in his committee this year. Was it time for the legislation to move?
"It may be time for ferrets," he said. "But it's not quite time yet."
The House speaker, when asked for his opinion on the legislation, looked nonplussed for a second. But his reaction told us the bill may be neutered.
"I don't even know what the Ferret Protection Act does," House Speaker Michael Busch said.
But we might be able to make good use of them after a state building was infested by rodents earlier in the session.
"You could use the ferrets to hunt the rats in the new House office building," one newsroom wit remarked.
Now that's something we'd like to see -- if using ferrets for hunting weren't already banned in Maryland. |
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