# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/81 "2005-10-14T23:08:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Maybe she could switch to a more easily concealable animal I take great comfort from the ticklings of my eyelash mites and intestinal flora. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/82 "2005-10-14T23:15:36Z")
> [@Nithotep](#): > > 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. This is an important point. We train service dogs. We have them for a year, and work on socializing them and getting them ready to go into all sorts of public situations. The actual guide dog training comes later. Sticking a jacket on a dog doesn’t make it a service dog - the training includes things like relieving on command, ignoring all sorts of distractions, dealing with situations that could be quite disturbing to an animal, and basically not acting like a pet when working. It is not easy, and lots of dogs get career changed. Speaking as someone who owned an illegal hamster in college, I can see a compromise about giving her a single and a cage, but I just can’t see a ferret ever being adequately trained to be a service animal. BTW, the idea of someone selling “service animal registration” makes me puke. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/83 "2005-10-14T23:18:06Z")
As a college prof I deal with a lot of homesick students, especially freshmen. When I occasionally bring my dog in to the office students hug and kiss him, sometimes cry, and open up with stories about their pets and family. I have had students with service dogs in class and while it causes sensation the first few meetings, it eventually settles down into normality. I have always thought that dorms should have resident kitties and dogs for students to mutually care for. However, though I have great compassion for my students and their peculiar and sometimes frightening college realities, I would be personally uncomfortable having a (presumably) untrained ferret in my classroom – mostly because they frighten me a bit. ---
**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, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/84 "2005-10-14T23:23:54Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > 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. You can’t “recognize” that without letting the pets in the first place, and then only taking action when individual problems arise. This isn’t practical. What are you going to do, assign someone to check regularly to make sure that everything is going okay? You’re going to say, “Okay, _now_ your pet has damaged the building, so you can’t keep it anymore.” You’re prepared to deal with frequent arbitration over what is or is not “too stinky” or “too noisy?” Spend the extra time and money cleaning up and repairing damages left by pets that _do_ cause problems? These are all problems that are easily solved by a “no pets” policy, and would be a tremendous pain-in-the-ass to address on a case-by-case basis. So you’re gonna have a “no pets” policy, unless you have a board that somehow runs a costs/benefits analysis on pet policy that somehow comes out in favour of allowing pets. (Don’t hold your breath.) ---
**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, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/85 "2005-10-14T23:41:57Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > You can’t “recognize” that without letting the pets in the first place, and then only taking action when individual problems arise. This isn’t practical. What are you going to do, assign someone to check regularly to make sure that everything is going okay? You’re going to say, “Okay, _now_ your pet has damaged the building, so you can’t keep it anymore.” You’re prepared to deal with frequent arbitration over what is or is not “too stinky” or “too noisy?” Spend the extra time and money cleaning up and repairing damages left by pets that _do_ cause problems? That’s how they deal with all other problems at dorms. Why not pets? Daniel ---
**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 15, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/86 "2005-10-15T00:03:42Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > That’s how they deal with all other problems at dorms. Why not pets? It’s not like “no pets” policies just appeared in a vacuum. Damage and other problems associated with pets are deemed frequent and costly enough to warrant a blanket rule. This is similar to “no cooking” rules. Sure, _some_ people are able to cook on a hotplate without creating obtrusive and lingering odours, starting a fire, or damaging the room in any other way – but damage from in-room cooking is frequent and costly enough to warrant a blanket policy against it, in most cases. I can’t think of any problems that are dealt with on a case-by-case basis that are analogous. Can you? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/87 "2005-10-15T00:16:36Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Maybe she could switch to a more easily concealable animal; a gerbil, perhaps. :eek: \< mr. slave \> Jethus Christ! \< / mr. slave\> ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/88 "2005-10-15T00:23:55Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > 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. No, it means that other people shouldn’t run up to you and jab you with syringes of pennicillin. In parallel, this girl should be allowed to bring her ferret if it didn’t effect the people around her _in any way_. And don’t give me any crap that it wouldn’t bother anybody else, that she would take care of it; that’s pure bullshit. If she had this thing scrambling around her desk near mine, I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off it; god only knows what I would do if it got away from her and started running around under my feet. I’d either panic, run, or instinctively try and kill it. None of this would be conduscive to my college learning experience. And before you tell me that my little problems with loose critters are secondary to her little problems without them, allow me to say: 1) you’re wrong; at best we’re equal. 2) Thank god I’m the one with rules on my side. Not that any rational and reasonable person would rule otherwise. Untrained animals have great potential to be disruptive. An untrained absence of an animal does not. I second the motion that if she wants to bring her little security pet; kill it and stuff it. Though that would be rather sick that would be far less of a disruption than having ambulatory little critters in class. If you don’t like that idea (and you shouldn’t), then perhaps you could listen to the dozens of other people who thing that there are other alternatives, be they medicine, therapy, or crutches like talismans and stuffed animals that, while still potentially effective, are not **banned** on account of being disruptive and potentially offensive. The problem this girl has is that she wants to break the rules; the problem she and you seem to _share_ is a bizarre disregard for the effects your actions have on others. You do realize that these rules are there for a _reason_, right? Neither she or you is the only person in the world. Get used to 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 15, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/89 "2005-10-15T00:35:37Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > And don’t give me any crap that it wouldn’t bother anybody else, that she would take care of it; that’s pure bullshit. If she had this thing scrambling around her desk near mine, I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off it; god only knows what I would do if it got away from her and started running around under my feet. I’d either panic, run, or instinctively try and kill it. None of this would be conduscive to my college learning experience. Moron, try to keep up. I made clear about fifty posts ago that i don’t think she should be allowed to bring it to class, but should confine it to her room. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/90 "2005-10-15T00:39:30Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > For all we know, Ms. Sevick may be the first psychologically-scarred victim of the home schooling movement. We don’t know if she’s home-schooled, but if she was a psychologically-scarred victim of that movement, she certainly wouldn’t be the first! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/91 "2005-10-15T00:41:40Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > As a college prof I deal with a lot of homesick students, especially freshmen. When I occasionally bring my dog in to the office students hug and kiss him, sometimes cry, and open up with stories about their pets and family. I have had students with service dogs in class and while it causes sensation the first few meetings, it eventually settles down into normality. Heh. When we go to the supermarket with our puppy in training we have to allow for extra time because of the number of people who rush up to us. It doesn’t help that she’s adorable. I assume that the service dogs sit quietly during class? That’s the training. We consider a restaurant trip a success of the waitperson forgets we have her. I doubt a ferret can be trained to sit quiety like a dog can. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/92 "2005-10-15T00:45:55Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Moron, try to keep up. > > I made clear about fifty posts ago that i don’t think she should be allowed to bring it to class, but should confine it to her room. Okay, goat-felching mother fucker, try to keep up with the fact that exactly the same reasoning applies to the rules preventing her keeping it in her room. Even you will admit that there’s a distinct probability that noise, odor, and damage would result from her keeping the thing in the dorms. You simply want to keep the possibility open of inflicting that damage upon other people for a while before she gets evicted, which of course would be good for her too. And burden the school with the cost of regulating and mediating this hairy business. Ass. And to fend off any protests that the damage is _currently_ only theoretical-- Assuming she would even consider limiting contact with her oversized rodent to her room, the obvious solution would be for that girl to keep her animal in her room illegally. Looking at the previous posts, apparently this has been done successfully, at least for a while. If the creature is truly innocuous and non-damaging, then there shouldn’t be any problem. And if there were, she could get booted out. Simple as that. ---
**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 15, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/93 "2005-10-15T01:08:14Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Okay, goat-felching mother fucker, try to keep up with the fact that exactly the same reasoning applies to the rules preventing her keeping it in her room… Blah, blah, blah… The fact remains that the post of yours to which i responded dealt specifically with the animal being a distraction in class, “scrambling around her desk” to the detriment of your learning experience. In the context of this debate, and particularly my argument (to which you were responding) this was a straw man that had been disposed of by the non-idiotic among us some time ago. I was merely pointing that out, in words i felt you could understand. And if you truly belive that keeping a small pet in a room involves exactly the same problems and issues as taking one to class, then i can only assume that you’re even dumber than you seem, an accomplishment in itself. Sure, keeping an animal in a room presents certain problems and challenges of its own. But, as **Left Hand of Dorkness** has already pointed out, some people manage to have pets without causing any problems. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/94 "2005-10-15T01:16:05Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > 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. That’s not what most people mean by “suck it up.” My understanding of the phrase is “Well, you’ll just have to sit in class and panic, but keep it to yourself, because no one gives a shit.” Trying to find ways of coping, and conditioning yourself to overcome and control your anxiety aren’t “sucking it up”, they’re treating it. Other than that, we’re on the same page. Using a ferret though, isn’t a really valid method. I like the idea of a small stuffed animal-surely she could get a small keychain stuffed toy, like a Beanie Baby, and keep it in her purse, sort of a security blanket. And try using THAT for a while. The ferret isn’t a service animal, because it’s a pet. Aren’t service animals, by definition, NOT pets? Or at least, not when they’re on duty. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/95 "2005-10-15T01:51:34Z")
Oh, dear lord. :rolleyes: 1. How the hell does someone develop PTSD by the age of 19? I say BS. 2. Maybe she’s not doing well in class because she’s not doing the homework. Maybe she’s not doing well because the work is too hard for her. Magically, though, having a ferret is going to make her grades go up! 3. Okay, so you’ve got your scholarship and you’ve got your Magical Ferret of Comfort. School says you can’t have pets in the dorm. So, do you A) sue them, or B) do what so many other college students have done and not tell the authorities that you have a “furry goldfish” in your room? 4. I would find it distracting and unsettling as all fuck if someone had a ferret (or anything) crawling around them during a class. 5. Speaking as someone with an anxiety disorder: Suck it up, bitch, and fucking deal with reality. It’s a big scary world out there, yes, and most of the world is going to at best laugh at your Magical Ferret of Comfort. You can’t bring it to restaurants, you can’t bring it to the movies, and you’re not going to be able to bring it to work. The trick is to deal with reality, not to deal with your fear. Quite honestly no one gives a fuck if you’re terrified, so long as they can’t see it. The point is to _hide_ the anxiety, not have a Magical Furry Thing that whisks you off to your Happy Place. Two pages and I’m the first person to point out the potential for band names here? I’m thinking “Service Ferret” would have to rock. ---
**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 15, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/96 "2005-10-15T01:53:49Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Two pages and I’m the first person to point out the potential for band names here? I’m thinking “Service Ferret” would have to rock. “Magical Furry Thing” ain’t so bad, either. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/97 "2005-10-15T01:55:01Z")
No no. Band name: _ **Magical Ferret of Comfort… AND DOOM!** _ ---
**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 15, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/98 "2005-10-15T01:56:19Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > No no. Band name: > > _ **Magical Ferret of Comfort… AND DOOM!** _ Are an Invader Zim fan by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/99 "2005-10-15T02:00:29Z")
Actually, I’ve never seen the show in question (slap me, go ahead! I deserve it!). I just think it is fun to add “Doom!” to normal, everyday things. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215/100 "2005-10-15T02:02:09Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Blah, blah, blah… > > The fact remains that the post of yours to which i responded dealt specifically with the animal being a distraction in class, “scrambling around her desk” to the detriment of your learning experience. In the context of this debate, and particularly my argument (to which you were responding) this was a straw man that had been disposed of by the non-idiotic among us some time ago. I was merely pointing that out, in words i felt you could understand. > > And if you truly belive that keeping a small pet in a room involves exactly the same problems and issues as taking one to class, then i can only assume that you’re even dumber than you seem, an accomplishment in itself. Sure, keeping an animal in a room presents certain problems and challenges of its own. But, as **Left Hand of Dorkness** has already pointed out, some people manage to have pets without causing any problems. The post to which you responded dealt with the concept of the people with pets not being the only people in the world, with the rather pointed example case of a per in the classroom. You seem to have demonstrated some tunnel vision with regard to this, seeing one sentence of my post and ignoring the rest. In the post of mine you most _recently_ ignored the content of, I pointed out the simple fact that the potential disruption, though different in form, still exists in the dormitory setting. The problems inherent to being a juvenile, selfish ass who thinks that everyone should accomodate them without regard to the potential trouble others experience as a result; all that still applies. I can only assume you ignored this because you feel that an ad hominem attack is the proper way to address straightforward points. As For **LHoD** ’s post to which you refer: though it was phrased in a very resonable manner, it has already been answered by **Larry Mudd** (who is among the numberous other people also think are stupid); I referred to Larry’s responses when I pointed out “And burden the school with the cost of regulating and mediating this hairy business.” You, of course, didn’t respond to this; I can only assume that after making that flying leap to the conlusion that I, like everyone else who doesn’t agree with you, is a moron, you therefore decided that it wasn’t worth reading my post. Not that you’re likely to read this either, but I will reiterate the point in a dormitory setting: pets have apparently been deemed by the school in question to present sufficient risk of causing damage and disruption to merit their banning from the dormitories. This was done for the greater good of the majority of people involved, including both the majority of tenants and those in charge of running the dorm itself. However, in spite of the existing set of rules, there is already a system in place for allowing certain reasonable exceptions to this restriction, for people who actually NEED to make such an exception. Though I concede this girl has a putatively stronger reason for wanting her pet with her than other owners, it is still the case that she does not NEED her little pet, as there are several other obvious alternatives, such as have been presented numerous times in previous posts. By agencies outside the school, a clear and unambiguous method of determining which animals qualify as NEEDED assists to their owners, and which don’t. The ferret in question doesn’t qualify, ergo, no exception. I’m sure you’d rather have a fuzzy system of complicated rules inconveniencing a whole lot of people in the current system, or perhaps a total absence of rules, so the girl can keep her security blanket. I would credit your benevolent desire to inconvenience numerous others on her behalf… but it doesn’t merit crediting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-sues-to-take-pet-ferret-to-classes/326215.md?page=6)