An initiative that would have allowed ferrets to be kept as pets in California – similar to cats and dogs – failed to gain the requisite number of signatures to make the Nov. 8 ballot, Secretary of State Shirley Weber reported.
The measure, had it been voted on and passed, would have removed the legal status of ferrets as wild animals.
The ferret is a domestic species and one that cannot survive long on its own in the wild, although it belongs to the same family as weasels and polecats. Its popularity as a house pet since ancient times has steadily risen throughout the United States, despite being illegal in California since 1933.
According to the summary of estimates by the California Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance, the change in law would not have had an
immediate or significant fiscal effect on state or local governments.
Pat Wright, the proponent of the measure, has for decades fought what he calls the “lunacy” of California, which is one of only four states that classify domestic ferrets as “wild animals.” ■