# Girl sues to take pet ferret to classes **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215 "2005-10-14T13:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/61 "2005-10-14T20:09:30Z")
> [@Tastes of Chocolate](#): > > Then it’s time to figure out how to cope with several hours on her own. She’s not going to be able to take a ferret with her throughout life. Time to learn another coping mechanism. Exactly what I was thinking. At soem point in ehr life, she won’t be able to have that ferret with her wherever she goes. Is she going to sue somone who didn’t give her a job because she listed “must be willing to let me take my ferret everyone” as a need in her cover letter? College is one of the first steps towards the real world where you have to get out there and do things on your own, and that includes coping with stress and anxiety. I sympathize with her, ebcause it is clearly harder for her to deal with that than somone without her disorder, but there are still plenty of people with her disorder who are able tocope in day to day life. In the long run, it would seem that a much healthier option for her is to learn to cope without the ferret. Start off by, as \*\*Tastes of Chocolate[/b[ said, living outside the dorms and only going a few hours without it. Eventually, she might be able to go a full day, or week. Another thing to consider is, at some point, that ferret will die. What will she do then? If she relies on that as her main means of support to prevent, or to cope during, a panic attack, then what kind of serious breakdown will happen when it dies? She is clearly very emotionally attached to it, and I can forsee her having a large attack when it dies, obviously compounded by the fact that she no longer has anything that can help her through it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/62 "2005-10-14T20:19:42Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > She’s probably a member here on the SDMB, let’s hang around to see if she’ll post her answer. Ah. So, conjecture is totally out of the question, then? No WAGs? No scientific evidence? No studies done on the subject? Thank you, sir. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/63 "2005-10-14T20:24:04Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I’m curious: why a ferret? Did she try different animals before the ferret? I would think that a ferret would be lower on the lists of animals behind dogs, cats, birds, compact rodents, etc. I would have asked a similar question a few years back, but a friend of mine has ferrets and they truly are amazing creatures. I’m a big cat lover, but i also think that it would be really cool to have a ferrt or two. [hijack] My friend told me that ferrets do best in pairs, and that it can actually be quite unhealthy and bad for them to keep them as single animals (as this woman is doing), because they get lonely and often fail to thrive when kept alone. Anyone know if this is true? [/hijack] > [@davenportavenger](#): > > Maybe if other people had the OPTION of having an “emotional service” animal, they wouldn’t want to use medication or therapy. Face it–the animal is an easy way out. If everyone was allowed to use their own easy ways out of dealing with anxiety, it would be a problem. What if someone petitioned the school to let them bring their mom to class? Or someone with OCD asked for a special wash basin so they could repeatedly wash their hands during the lesson? I used to have really bad agoraphobia–would I have been justified in bringing a satellite link-up to class so I could learn without leaving the house? The slippery slope argument IS relevant in this case, because things like that WOULD happen. Especially when you can have a cute, fuzzy coping aide. Yeah, right. Why don’t we try to find some even _more_ ridiculous analogies. This might be fun! I mean, what if i was a scat fetishist and wanted to take a dump in class? Or say, for example, that i had a fear of clothing and wanted everyone to come to class naked? Or what if i was as stupid as **davenportavenger** and requested that the teacher speak only in dribbling monosyllables so my pea-brain wouldn’t explode? What about that? Huh? Huh? > [@davenportavenger](#): > > I think the school should offer her the option of a human aide and if she rejects that (what, not fuzzy enough?) then just tell her to suck it up. Because that’s really the only way to deal with anxiety disorders, when you come down to it. Suck it up. Yeah, that’s right moron. They just need to suck it up, get over it, move on, whatever. Not serious at all, nothing to worry about. Idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/64 "2005-10-14T20:30:00Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I still contend that this slippery slope argument is moronic. Just because you’re paranoid anbout some sudden avalanche of claims doesn’t mean that’s what’s going to happen. Bullshit. Anxiety disorders affect nearly 15% of the population. Currently, the rule is very easy to apply: “No animals on campus, unless they are licensed helper animals.” This is a practical policy. If you start making exceptions for people with anxiety disorders, though, how do you apply that? Let’s make a conservative estimate and say that it gives 1 in 10 students the option to argue that they should be able to keep a pet on campus. Let’s say that about half of them would _like_ to keep a pet. “Look, I have an anxiety disorder. Here’s my Xanex prescription. Having a cat around helps me to cope.” How do you propose making the judgement that any of these other claims are more or less valid than ferret-girl’s? It is extremely naive to say “You don’t _know_ that other people will demand to keep pets.” If an anxiety disorder is an acceptable reason for one student to keep a pet, and you can make a statistical estimate that, conservatively, one in ten students meet this qualification, you can count on a substantial number of students looking to exploit this option. It’s common sense. Many people would keep pets if they were allowed. Many people have anxiety disorders. These two sets intersect. > [@](#): > > But you don’t say that. You say “no pets,” and if someone is worried enough about the issue to make a special request, then you investigate the merits of the argument. If you do, you’d better be prepared to spend a lot of man-hours investigating these arguments, and also resign yourself to allowing a _lot_ of pets on campus. > [@](#): > > I agree that it would be ideal if she could cope with her problems this way. But the fact that “everyone else [deals with this problem]…with medication, therapy, and resolve” kind of refutes your previous claim that this one case will open the school up to an inundation of furry creatures. It’s one or the other—either this woman is a special case, or she isn’t. Exactly. She’s either special or she isn’t. This isn’t contradictory at all – because she’s _not special._ Everyone deals with this with medication, therapy, and resolve, or whatever little personal things they have _that don’t conflict with any laws or rules_. I knew a woman who carried a charm with her to help her with panic attacks she suffered on public transit. No problem – there’s no rule against carrying charms on public transit. It’s entirely likely that there are many people who would feel more comfortable if they were allowed to take companion animals on the bus with them here. They are “special cases” in the sense that they might take an unusual amount of comfort from keeping the animal with them, but they aren’t “special cases” in the sense that the rules don’t apply to them. Ferret-girl is not a special case. It would be practically impossible to demonstrate that her condition is much different from many, many other students on campus – apart from her disproportionate sense of entitlement. I promise you, if this woman argues her case successfully (which she won’t) people will have to get used to the smell of catboxes in dormitories. Since there are just as many people who suffer from pet allergies as suffer from anxiety disorders, making exceptions would adversely affect their comfort on campus. Arguing that keeping a pet for emotional security is on par with using a guide dog or other helper animal is ridiculous on the face of it. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/65 "2005-10-14T20:36:05Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Arguing that keeping a pet for emotional security is on par with using a guide dog or other helper animal is ridiculous on the face of it. This is true if, and only if you believe that psychological disorders are always and inevitably no more debilitating than physical ones. An untenable position. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/66 "2005-10-14T20:40:25Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > For all we know, Ms. Sevick may be the first psychologically-scarred victim of the home schooling movement. Did I miss something in the article? Nothing I saw mentioned her being home schooled. I did a google news search and didn’t find any other articles which said she was home schooled either. None of them mentioned what the root cause of her PTSD was when I read them. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/67 "2005-10-14T20:48:41Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Bullshit. Anxiety disorders affect nearly 15% of the population. Currently, the rule is very easy to apply: “No animals on campus, unless they are licensed helper animals.” This is a practical policy. If you start making exceptions for people with anxiety disorders, though, how do you apply that? Let’s make a conservative estimate and say that it gives 1 in 10 students the option to argue that they should be able to keep a pet on campus. Let’s say that about half of them would _like_ to keep a pet. “Look, I have an anxiety disorder. Here’s my Xanex prescription. Having a cat around helps me to cope.” How do you propose making the judgement that any of these other claims are more or less valid than ferret-girl’s? I’d go the opposite direction. If 10% of the population suffer from a mental illness that is exacerbated by a no-pets policy, then maybe we need to be rethinking the no-pets policy. I know that for myself, it just doesn’t feel right to live in a house without pets, and it was a real relief for me when I was finally able to adopt a couple cats for my house. I also know that a lot of kids break the no-pets rule because they are so drawn to animal companionship. I don’t think she’s being very wise here, but I do think campuses ought to nix the no-pets rule, within limits. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/68 "2005-10-14T21:04:49Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Yeah, right. Why don’t we try to find some even _more_ ridiculous analogies. This might be fun! I mean, what if i was a scat fetishist and wanted to take a dump in class? Or say, for example, that i had a fear of clothing and wanted everyone to come to class naked? Or what if i was as stupid as **davenportavenger** and requested that the teacher speak only in dribbling monosyllables so my pea-brain wouldn’t explode? What about that? Huh? Huh? And what I am saying is that bringing a ferret to class is just as unneccessary, inconsiderate, and disruptive as a (diagnosed) scat fetishist taking a dump in class. > [@](#): > > Yeah, that’s right moron. They just need to suck it up, get over it, move on, whatever. Not serious at all, nothing to worry about. > > Idiot. Did you miss the part where I mentioned that I have an anxiety disorder? Maybe I was being a little glib by saying “suck it up,” but basically that’s what cognitive behavioral therapy boils down to–forcing someone into an uncomfortable-yet-necessary situation and making them rely on healthier ways of coping with their anxiety. I cannot believe that this girl’s doctor would feed her desire to cling to this animal. They must be the Dr. Riviera of psychologists. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/69 "2005-10-14T21:06:48Z")
When I was in therapy once, another person in the waiting room used to come in all the time with a moose in a service dog harness. And one day I said to her, “Pardon me but I must compliment you on your remarkably well behaved Moose.” And she said, "Oh- he’s a [Neapolitan Mastiff!"](http://www.neapolitan.org/) And she went on to explain that she suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, and agoraphobia (the one where you’re afraid to be outdoors.) And so having this enormous dog with her gave her something solid and strong that she could clutch and help her get around. And I thought, “yes, having an 800 pound carnivore at your side can certainly be a comfort.” He was a very well behaved Mastiff and he always wore his service dog outfit. He’d been through the formal service dog training. I don’t know how one gets a service dog but it was a full process. It’s not like she just bought a fancy harness somewhere. So there -are- service animals that assist people with anxiety and related issues. But “service animal” is a speciific class of creature and it involves a great deal of training. There’s more to it than just making your master happy. Random people can’t just label their pets, “service animals.” I think the University’s probably smart to stick to their guns about “service animals only.” The number of people with anxiety disorders is, imo, dwarfed by the number of stupid pet owners out there. If a service animal would help the girl, I hope she goes through the proper steps to acquire one. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/70 "2005-10-14T21:07:30Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > This is true if, and only if you believe that psychological disorders are always and inevitably no more debilitating than physical ones. Nonsense. An actual helper animal does _work_ that its owner cannot. It is trained to actively assist its owner. Guide dogs or hearing dogs act as eyes and ears for blind and deaf people. A helper monkey provides arms and legs for those who don’t have the use of theirs. They _work_ – they aren’t just _there_. Blind, deaf, quadriplegic, or other folks with working animals don’t have practical alternatives to their animals for getting around independently. Ferret girl _does_. Her ferret isn’t helping her to overcome her disability, it’s a symptom of it. Many people with severe anxiety disorders rely on totems to keep their attacks at bay. The totem is a passive item. It helps because the person decides it helps, not because it’s really doing anything. A _Monchichi_ could be made to be just as effective as her ferret. She _can_ learn to cope without it, if she chooses to. (And she’d better, because it’s not always going to be there.) Blind people cannot learn to see. > [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I’d go the opposite direction. If 10% of the population suffer from a mental illness that is exacerbated by a no-pets policy, then maybe we need to be rethinking the no-pets policy. An anxiety disorder is not helped by having pets around, this is just one manifestation. For just as many people with anxiety disorders, having small animals around would be\* intolerable.\* ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/71 "2005-10-14T21:11:58Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > An anxiety disorder is not helped by having pets around, this is just one manifestation. For just as many people with anxiety disorders, having small animals around would be\* intolerable.\* Huh? So because different things work for different people, the fact they work for some is irrelevant? I guess the fact that i’m allergic to penicillin means that the drug shouldn’t be used to treat others. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/72 "2005-10-14T21:14:46Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Nonsense. An actual helper animal does _work_ that its owner cannot. It is trained to actively assist its owner. Guide dogs or hearing dogs act as eyes and ears for blind and deaf people. A helper monkey provides arms and legs for those who don’t have the use of theirs. They _work_ – they aren’t just _there_. Blind, deaf, quadriplegic, or other folks with working animals don’t have practical alternatives to their animals for getting around independently. Ferret girl _does_. Her ferret isn’t helping her to overcome her disability, it’s a symptom of it. Many people with severe anxiety disorders rely on totems to keep their attacks at bay. The totem is a passive item. It helps because the person decides it helps, not because it’s really doing anything. A _Monchichi_ could be made to be just as effective as her ferret. She _can_ learn to cope without it, if she chooses to. (And she’d better, because it’s not always going to be there.) Blind people cannot learn to see. I must say, i find it hard to believe that an apparently intelligent person is so dismissive of therapeutic intervention for people with psychological disorders and disabilities, and so convinced that such people can just get over it if the “choose to.” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/73 "2005-10-14T21:16:08Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > For just as many people with anxiety disorders, having small animals around would be\* intolerable.\* I think then that one of the limits would have to prevent the dorm residents’ pets from leaving their dorm room/suite unless properly confined (i.e., leashed and muzzled for dogs, in a carrier case for cats). Obviously pets would not be allowed to violate noise restrictions, either; and odor complaints from pets would be treated just like any other odor complaints. In other words, don’t give people any extra leeway just because they have pets, and require them to treat their pets in a responsible manner. That should negate the problems that almost all other folks with anxiety disorders would have about pets, while still allowing the significant number of people who benefit from pets’ presence to have them. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/74 "2005-10-14T21:19:27Z")
What’s she going to do when her ferret turns up tail and dies? Ferrets in captivity have relatively short lifespans; this ferret isn’t going to be with her for her entire adult life. I had a hard enough time when my cat died. Is she going to melt into a puddle of goo when her ferret dies? I have a panic disorder, which is pretty well managed for the most part, so don’t think I don’t understand her situation. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/75 "2005-10-14T21:45:52Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > _Monchichi_ Great, now I’ve got that fucking jingle stuck in my head. Here, someone else take it: Monchichi, monchichi, oh so soft and cuddly, put your thumb on your mouth it’s really cute, something, something… gigi, who’s had ferrets and panic attacks, but not at the same time ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/76 "2005-10-14T21:54:35Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I must say, i find it hard to believe that an apparently intelligent person is so dismissive of therapeutic intervention for people with psychological disorders and disabilities, and so convinced that such people can just get over it if the “choose to.” How was Larry being “dismissive of therapeutic intervention”? He said that he was in FAVOR of people being treated with medication and therapy. He’s probably just not in favor of “intervention” that allows a person to cling to their poor coping strategy while inconveniencing other people and generally holding back their progress towards a normal, ferret-free life? Do you know anything about the treatment of anxiety disorders at all? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/77 "2005-10-14T21:56:57Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I must say, i find it hard to believe that an apparently intelligent person is so dismissive of therapeutic intervention for people with psychological disorders and disabilities, and so convinced that such people can just get over it if the “choose to.” Look, I’ve been treated for (mild) anxiety myself. I wouldn’t equate that in any way with a severe anxiety disorder, but I am sympathetic. The thing is, you have to look at the broad picture. The ferret is _not_ necessary for her. She feels that it is. This is symptomatic. Medication and (especially) therapy can help her to get over this. I lived with a woman for two years who had a severe anxiety disorder. I observed how she coped. Medication helped a lot, but the closest analogy to the ferret situation is how she dealt with her fear of buses. She was _petrified_ of buses, but needed to rely on them to get around. When I first met her, she coped with this by having people ride with her to hold her hand (literally.) When she came out to visit friends, someone would go out to meet her, ride back with her on the “bus monster,” she’d visit, and then someone would take the bus home with her before carrying on to their own home or returning to the place she’d been visiting. This worked, but it was a very wearing and often inconvenient – since most of us worked full time. Eventually, she was given a tiny “protector bear” to carry with her. We continued to accompany her on the bus, but encouraged her to think of the _bear_ as the “charm.” (She wasn’t afraid of anything happening to her on the bus, it was just the bus itself that triggered her panic attacks.) Eventually, she embraced the bear and was able to travel “alone” on public transit, clutching her protector bear. In other words, she “got over it.” Not her anxiety disorder _itself_, but her unreasonable need to be accompanied by another person on the bus at all times. Ferret-girl’s need to have her pet with her at all times is even more unreasonable, because she’s asking her university to alter its (pretty much standard) no-pets policy, _just for her_, because she’s special. Well, she’s not. People with anxiety disorders learn to manage their illness in ways that don’t put other people out unreasonably, _all the time_. If we put her ferret on the same level as a service animal, then people can take pets _anywhere_. “I have a _right_ to take my cat to the movies, because I have a disability and I can’t get through one without her.” “I have a right to bring my rat into _Spargo’s_, because I don’t feel comfortable outside without him.” > [@mhendo](#): > > So because different things work for different people, the fact they work for some is irrelevant? > > I guess the fact that i’m allergic to penicillin means that the drug shouldn’t be used to treat others. Penicillin has a pharmacological action that it is a quality of the drug itself, not the person that takes it. Apart from henceforth allowing anxiety sufferers to take their pets with them everywhere, we might just as well treat every other symptomatic manifestation of mental illness as something that must be accomodated. Suppose someone with O.C.D. can’t bring themselves to step on red tiles. Should they be allowed to cite the Accessibility Act and sue the apartment that they want to move into to dig up their walkway and replace it with plain concrete? After all, they have a medical disability that prevents them from entering the building. Or should we maybe just keep things as they are and try to overcome this obstacle with medication and therapy, or perhaps find another place to live? > [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > In other words, don’t give people any extra leeway just because they have pets, and require them to treat their pets in a responsible manner. Having pets _is_ leeway. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/78 "2005-10-14T22:43:02Z")
Not that I think it would happen, but wouldn’t the college be opening themselves up for another lawsuit if the ferret causes some kind of injury(Maybe it bites someone, maybe it gets loose and somebody trips running from it/accidently stepping on it)? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/79 "2005-10-14T22:47:46Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Not that I think it would happen, but wouldn’t the college be opening themselves up for another lawsuit if the ferret causes some kind of injury(Maybe it bites someone, maybe it gets loose and somebody trips running from it/accidently stepping on it)? I’m sure that’s crossed their minds. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/80 "2005-10-14T23:01:00Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Having pets _is_ leeway. Nonsense. There are good reasons for not having pets; my point is that we can separate those reasons from the pets themselves. The problems with having pets include: 1. Noise 2. Odor 3. Danger to other residents. However, some people are able to have pets without incurring any of these problems. Allowing them to have pets is not giving them extra leeway; it’s recognizing that their having pets doesn’t create any problems. Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215.md?page=5)