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.

All fur bearing mammals of the family Mustelidae, including ... stoat and ferret.

How this rule works: § 161.01 is the list of animals that may not be kept in the five boroughs. It binds regardless of what New York State allows, which is why the city and the state answer differently for several species.

Not on the exempt list.

How this rule works: 4.4 is a closed exempt list; 4.5 requires a permit for 'any other' exotic species not exempted.

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.

European ferret (Mustela putorius furo) may be sold, purchased, exhibited, or held as a pet without a license or permit

Condition: neutered before seven months and vaccinated against rabies.

Treated as a domestic animal under 321 CMR 9.02, but M.G.L. c. 131 § 77 requires it to be surgically neutered or spayed and incapable of breeding.

How this rule works: Ferrets are handled as domestic animals under 9.02 rather than on the 9.01 exemption list.

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.

The regime covers live wild mammals. A domesticated ferret is arguably not one, and Delaware does not say either way in the text read.

How this rule works: An exotic animal is 'ecologically foreign to Delaware, but allowed for possession, sale, and exhibition if a permit has been issued by the Department', covering live wild mammals, hybrids of wild mammals, and live reptiles not native to the state. A prohibited sublist sits on top, barred to everyone outside parks, zoos, aquariums, museums and research facilities. Administered by the State Veterinarian.

Group assignment unknown; unlisted defaults to Group IV.

How this rule works: Four groups. Group I is semi-domesticated and needs no importation permit; Group IV is 'dangerous, invasive, undesirable, state or federal listed threatened, endangered, a furbearer or any other species of concern' and is barred to the general public, allowed only for scientific study, restoration, zoological display, temporary events, service animals or qualified experts. The operative default: 'Any species of live non-domesticated animal not currently on the species importation list will be designated group IV until such time as another determination is made by the director.' The group assignments themselves live in a separate Director's Species Importation List, roughly 27 pages, which I could not obtain.

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.