City Considers Reversing Ban, Placing Regulations On Ferrets As Pets
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- As Mayor Bill de Blasio considers a reversal on a ban against keeping ferrets as pets in New York City, one ferret advocate said he's not happy with the regulations that may come with it.
As WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported, a Department of Health memo weighing the pros and cons of legalizing the animals mentioned a 1999 radio exchange between ferret advocate David Goodhart and then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
City Considers Reversing Ban, Placing Regulations On Ferrets As Pets
Giuliani: "You need help."
Goodhart: "The city is violating state law."
Giuliani: "This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness."
You may be led to believe that 15 years later, with the de Blasio administration pushing to reverse the ban, Goodhart would be thrilled -- hardly.
"This is the wrong thing what is being done. All because of a bunch of kids on Facebook," Goodhart told Silverman.
A Brooklyn College graduate student had started a petition that got City Hall's attention. The petition proposes and end to the ban, but also licencing and spaying requirements.
"You can regulate us as much as you want," Goodhart said, but he insisted ferrets should be free of any and all restrictions.
"Governments shouldn't be deciding what somebody should have and shouldn't have," he added.
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