The media blitz was brought up at our ferret club meeting this past Sunday. One
comment made in the discussion was to the effect that tabloid TV and inves-
gative TV journalism gives plenty of air time to both points of view.  Another
comment was to the effect that what is happening in Cobb County, GA should get
our attention.
 
These points seemed very plausible, particularly because I remember seeing
about 15 minutes of Geraldo, or SJR, or Oprah & feeling that I could not con-
clude anything based on what was presented, and only became more exasperated.
This having happened more than once, I have concluded that it is at least
plausible that Geraldo, Oprah, and SJR & s. are in the business of heightening
controversy, not resolving it; and so the ferret stigmatizers oughtta have
plenty of opportunity to speak. In other words, are we happy with the prospect
of the neatly-coiffed grey-heads in suits that have titles having the opportu-
nity to say to a national audience, "Ferrets are rabid baby killers that stink"
and being believed because of their demeanor and conservative, dis-passionate
appearance and because we don't have a ringing 'sound-byte' rebuttal?
 
Also, the second comment seemed to have validity, because you can't go into a
national forum when a local issue has been so polarized; furthermore, the say-
ing is, "Think globally, act locally..."
 
On the other hand, any action is better than no action at all, and further,
there is no reason why we can't advocate at all levels, so I hope my club as-
sociates will still join FMLer's and other clubs in bringing to light the trag-
ic MacDowell story, and erasing the ignorant antipathy sometimes accorded fer-
rets.
 
The only question that remains in my mind is, should we perhaps confine our-
selves to the "60 Mins", "Hard Copy", "Inside Edition" type shows, or perhaps
even put priority on local investigative journalistic presentations? Anybody
wanna try 'Real Personal'? (8 :)  ...and Matt, what exactly is the plan?
 
Regardless, could it be that responsible pet ownership and sharing your pet is
still the best form of advocacy?
 
             <------------------The 'More' Part------------------>
 
How come nobody said anything about Georgia House Bill #1541 being written into
Ga. State Code 27-5-4?
 
To catch ya'll up, Georgia legalized ferret ownership (I'm told) as of 10 April
1991, but no commerce allowed.  In trying to document the legal status of fer-
rets in Georgia, I spoke with someone at Ga. Dept. of Nat. Res. (DNR) who said
it will be legal to buy and sell ferrets in Georgia as of 1 July, 1994.  This
person also stated that there will be an explicit reference to ferrets, and
that this was all a consequence of HB#1541.  These things are new, seeing as
how ferrets weren't legislated, just regulated (by DNR - *RETRACTION* - I pre-
viously reported 'Rules of the Commish of Agr').
 
[Posted in FML issue 0795]