Man Loses Job After Asking Client to Care for Ferret

By Kelli Bender Aug 2nd 2012

"Keep your weasels to yourself" -- or at least outside of the workplace -- is the moral to this tale. According to The New York Times, a caseworker at New York City's Human Resources Administration was fired after asking a welfare recipient to babysit his pet ferret.


The administration's Conflict of Interest Board found that Kempe Hope was guilty of soliciting a paid favor (of ferret-sitting) from someone whom he directly oversees. This action goes against the Human Resources Administration's rule that employees cannot use their role for "any financial gain, contract, license or privilege."

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This is another incident on a growing list of ferret issues within the New York City government. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani detested ferrets and outlawed ferret ownership in New York City in 1999, even claiming that a ferret advocate was mentally ill for enjoying the company of the animal.

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In Hope's case, David Guthartz, executive president of New York Ferret's Rights Advocacy, believes the welfare recipient would be unprepared to care for the animal.

Guthartz told The New York Times that ferrets require a lot of experienced love and work that most uninitiated folks can't handle. "We don't own them," Guthartz said. "They own us."

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