New York City Friends of Ferrets v. City of New York

The City of New York (city) (defendant) adopted an ordinance that prohibited persons from having ferrets within city limits. The ordinance also required that any ferret that bit a human be immediately surrendered for humane destruction to facilitate rabies testing. New York City Friends of Ferrets (association) (plaintiff), an association of city dwellers that either had ferrets as pets or desired ferrets as pets, sued the city, arguing that the ordinance was unconstitutional because it deprived them of liberty and property without due process and violated the Equal Protection Clause. The city moved to dismiss, arguing that the ordinance was constitutional because it was rationally related to preventing ferret attacks and preventing the spread of rabies. The city provided evidence that unprovoked ferret attacks occurred with disturbing frequency and often targeted children and infants. Further, the city showed that the metropolitan area was under a rabies alert and that the symptoms of rabies in ferrets were less noticeable and less established than symptoms in dogs and cats, rendering a postbite quarantine of the animal insufficient to assess a bite’s rabies risk. To review the city’s evidence when ruling on the motion, the district court converted the motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment and considered whether the city was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.