Form

Guidance: ferret and other mustelinae keepers register

Published 14 June 2021

Applies to England and Wales

© Crown copyright 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ferret-and-other-mustelinae-register/guidance-ferret-and-other-mustelinae-keepers-register

Ferret and other mustelinae keepers can join a register to share information about their animals with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). APHA will use the information on the register to contact you with information and guidance about disease prevention if there is an outbreak of disease affecting your animals.

It will also help APHA understand how many ferrets and other kept mustelinae there are in Great Britain, and where they are.

Who should sign up

You can sign up if you keep one or more mustelinae, including:

  • ferrets
  • polecats
  • stoats
  • mink
  • hybrids of these animals

You are a keeper if you are responsible for the day-to-day care of the animals. This includes animals kept as pets.

You do not have to join the register by law at the moment. It is likely to become compulsory in the future if you keep more than a certain number of ferrets or other mustelinae. The number has not been decided yet.

APHA encourages you to register even if you do not have to by law.

If you join the voluntary register, APHA will include your details on the compulsory register when it is created. You will not need to re-register.

Why we have a register

Ferrets, mink and other members of the mustelinae family are particularly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. They can infect members of their own species and there is evidence that mink can pass the infection back to humans.

If there is a confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 in ferrets, you may be contacted with information and advice about disease prevention measures.

The movement of animals infected with SARS-CoV-2 may be restricted in line with The Zoonoses Order (1989) as amended.

How to sign up

You’ll need the following information to join the register:

  • the address where the you keep the animals
  • a map reference of the address
  • the number of animals you keep
  • the species you keep
  • name and contact details of the keeper
  • the reason you keep the animal, for example as a pet or working animal

In England and Wales, you should download your form and email it to Ferret.Registration@apha.gov.uk.

You can also join the register by telephone. Call 0800 6341 112.

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