I haven't read my FML for a week now.  I find that the BFF issue, the
California and Massachusetts endeavours, and CBS brouhaha on the FML are
similar to situations here, so I'd like to share some observations.  To
recount the entire story of anti-ferret endaevours up here would take up
too much space, so I'll be brief.  All my remarks can be verified.
By way of background, I am an investigator of companies as a profession,
therefore I know how to get my facts straight (Greater Pandas are bears ;-) ).
I live in Vancouver, B.C. (Canada for those who haven't heard of us and don't
have a map) and have been politically involved for many years.  Our local
ferret club, Ferrets and Friends, is primarily a rescue and adoption service,
but we also strive to protect our animals' rights and interests.  This requires
politicking, my area.
 
The Humane Society:
Does the Humane Society have an anti-ferret agenda?  Yes.  The group has a
policy of opposing pet ownership in general and the legalisation of a banned
animal as pet stock is a step BACKWARDS for the organisation and its
principles.  Therefore, opposition to the CA and MA initiatives and spreading
misinformation (CBS) are natural and acceptable activities.
Is there an organised campaign?  I can speak only for Canada at this time
(information specific to the US has not yet arrived), but, yes there seems to
be one.  This takes the form of initiatives to have municipal and township
councils ban animal performances, specifically circuses (heart-strings tugger
and politically correct target!) and the sale of "exotic" animals.  Only dogs,
cats, and fish are exempt.  Needless to say, ferrets are always classified as
exotic.  Such attempts have been or are being made here, in Alberta, in
Ontario, and in Connecticutt.
 
The BFF:
I understand the reluctance of a governmental agency giving these animals to an
unqualified person.  It is likely to turn into an animal refuge scenario, like
one here in B.C.  It works like this:  Concerned citizen invests own assets to
create private refuge; has good intentions but no qualifications and no
resources.  Citizen charges admittance fee, asks for donations to cover food
expenses.  Citizen lives on leased property, has no job because animals take up
all the time.  Citizen does not have money to feed animals, pay vets, pay
lease, etc., so Citizen turns to government for hand-out because animals are
rare or exotic or endangered.   A great gimmick if you can pull it off, but  a
recipe for ultimate disaster as far as the animals are concerned.
Has anyone declared from whence will come the long-term funding for BBF care?
Those BFFs are cute, but they are wild and shouldn't be likened to our pets,
even if some handlers broke the rules and treated the BFFs as pets (for the
video camera?).  The programme's purpose was to re-establish WILD populations,
not captive populations for visitors centres.
 
CA/MA:
Those who issue fair words asking us to help their pet agendas (sorry, no pun
intended) are likely to be the same people attacking our interests in another
forum, as is the case in California.  These people are experts in manipulating
the public, but have no allegiance to the public.
Can you understand why, on the one hand, these animal activists paint the BFF
as a cute and cuddly creature that shouldn't be forcefully re-introduced to the
wild, yet our FERRETS are viscious, wild beasts that should be exterminated and
banned rather than be allowed to live in our homes?
 
The Media:
You can't trust the media to present an unbiased picture during a debate on
ferret policy because sensationalism sells.  We have had only good response
from the local media, but was due to a lot of hard work and luckily finding
honest and open-minded reporters who stuck to the facts.  Sam Donaldson once
stated openly on CNN's Larry King that, as far as he was concerned,
journalists/reporters were not responsible for reporting facts, but for
interpreting them in order to change society. In other words, he wants to
distribute propaganda (interpreted facts).  So whose vision of society will he
present?  Certainly not the ferret owners' in CA and MA.
 
CBS:
Be aware that news reports aren't self-generating; someone has to suggest
them.  ASK CBS THE QUESTION:  WHO INSTIGATED THIS REPORT AND WHY DID YOU FEEL
IT WORTH LOOKING INTO?  If you get an answer (big if), it could well show the
reporter's bias (my money is on someone like Rachel Lamb being involved).
Should you feel you are getting the run-around, inform the top brass at CBS and
its parent corporation (One of the big three, if I remember correctly, is owned
by Disney, but I think that's NBC) that you will lodge complaints with the
federal and local licensing agencies whereever CBS or its affiliates have
broadcast this false and inflammatory story and that you will make
representation against them on this basis when their broadcast licenses are up
for renewal.  Definitely contact the company's corporate owners:  You can have
greater effect by hitting the conglomerate's head office where the political
nerve endings lie closer to the surface.
 
Official "information:"
Some of the quotations I've seen posted are strange!  Don't you have laws down
there to prevent the spread of false, misleading, or inciteful material?  At
least by governmental agencies?  Up here, I could shut down whole ministries
for spreading false or unverifiable information.  CDFA1, look into this and the
above, especially if your initiative falters.
 
I hope that the CDFA et al can undo the CBS story's damage.  I find the timing
far too convenient for the ferret opposition for this to be co-incidental.
 
A closing thought from the French:
Cet animal est tres mechant, Quand on l'attaque il se defend.
"This creature is very wicked.  He defends himself when attacked."
[Posted in FML issue 1225]