I heard from Mr. Porter.  He felt he didn't know how he could further
vaildate his claim and we are continuing to discuss the situation.  I have
asked him to page me or contact our head of rescue at that number, in case
he doesn't want to give out his number.  I have also informed him that he
may contact anyone on the FML or another list where I and my work may be
known and validate my existance and stand on the issues.  So if you are
contacted, please respond promptly and truthfully (ohhhhh I may want to take
that back.... VBG).  Thank you.
 
The head of rescue contacted a 20 yr veteran of the Orange County Animal
Control office (Garden Grove falls in Orange County in CA) and both that
person and another 25 year veteran have not heard of Dale Porter or his
organization.  We are trying every way we know how to verify that this is a
legitabmate organization and perhaps even endorse it, but at this point we
must continue to pursue the Cautious approach.
 
There is the possiblity that Mr. Porter is using an alias to protect himself,
I don't blame him, CA is a dangerous place..... However since he repeatedly
states that he is 'chief of animal control in a CA city' our laws state that
we have the right to demand identification.  I am doing so now.
 
I again warn CA residents that no one should be asking them about how many
ferrets they own..... that is not information that we need to legalize them.
 We need to know how many CA residents support legalization, but as you know
you don't have to own ferrets to believe they should be legal.
CDFA1
 
PS..... I do not have access to Compuserv.  If someone could check out and
see if there is a 'profile' available for this id I would appreciate it.
This may be academic as I personally have recommended and have deleted my
profile from all of my accounts.
 
[Moderator's note: CompuServe doesn't store profiles.  They do have a member
directory - he is listed as Dale A. Porter of Anaheim, CA.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1383]