CA UPDATE DEC. 23, 1996
 
On Monday December 9, 1996, in Superior Court in San Diego County, a lawsuit
was filed against the California State Fish and Game Commission by Marshall
Farms, USA, INC.  The lawsuit seeks two things: a Writ of Administrative
Mandate overturning the November 8th decision by the Commission regarding
its contention that the authority to hear the ferret issue is in question,
and, it commands the Commission to "fulfill its mandatory statutory duty to
determine whether the ferret is an animal that is "normally domesticated" in
the State of California."
 
The complaint points out that, besides the plain reading of the statute in
which wild animal is defined as "any animal....which is not normally
domesticated in this state as determined by the commission," section 2118(k)
of the Fish and Game Code specifically "authorizes the Commission to add or
delete animals from the statutorily adopted restricted list." McDermott,
Will & Emery partners Mary Ellen Hogan, Chris Amantea, and Lee Blackman
point out that the removal of domesticated races of Chinchillas from section
2118 is a clear example of the kind of authority to delist prohibited species
that the Commission recently exercised but now claims it does not have.
 
The complaint also catalogues the long-running attempt by California's
citizens to have the Commission fulfill it's obligations regarding the
ferret issue and specifically recounts the recent efforts begun by Floyd
Carley in August of 1995 and culminating in the successful presentation by
Floyd, Jan Goldsmith, author of HR 37, Dick Schumacher, head of the CVMA,
and others at the San Diego Commission meeting in November of 1995.  At no
time from August 1995 through June 1996, was the Commission's authority to
delist the ferret ever a question, even within the agency.  In fact, recent
legal documents from the Attorney General's office reiterate Commission
authority to drop ferrets from the prohibited species list.
 
News of the Commission's backtracking came from minutes of the August 29th
Commission hearing sent to me by Jan Goldsmith's office.  Deptuty Attorney
General Randy Christison advised the Commission that the ferret's removal
from 2118 might not survive a challenge from the Office of Administrative
Law.  At that time, Mr. Christison was unaware that McDermott, Will and Emery
were already on board to deal with the CEQA issue, but was obviously acutely
aware of the ramifications of a final hearing on the ferret's status as a
domestic pet.  The Commission would faced Hobson's choice:  declare the
ferret domesticated and remove it from the prohibited wildlife list, or
maintain a fiction, keep ferrets classified as wild, and join the flat earth
society.  Instead, he advised the Commission "to meet with the Legislature
for the purpose of sponsoring legislation to clarify the Commission's
statutory mandate."  This is a transparent attempt to convince  the
Commission to abdicate its mandated responsibility.
 
The lawsuit also calls for declaratory relief in seeking "a judicial
determination that the domestic ferret is a domesticated animal.." The
plaintiff contends that "the Commission has the statutory authority and is
required to make a determination, by regulation, whether domestic ferrets
are domesticated or wild animals... (and) that based on the evidence in the
record, as a matter of law, the only conclusion that can be reached is that
the domestic ferret is domesticated within the State of California, and
therefore, not a "wild animal" subject to regulation by the Commission."
 
As far as the matter of Commission authority, the statutory mandate is clear:
the Commission has the authority to remove the ferret from the list of
prohibited wildlife.  They've exercised that authority in the recent past by
delisting the Chinchilla, and hopefully will be compelled to address the
ferret issue, and will delist it in the near future.  Regarding the question
of whether the DOMESTICATED ferret belongs in a list of prohibited WILD
animals, I can only ask, how many of you are prepared to state that the
earth is flat?
 
Merry Christmas to all of you and we hope we can celebrate an end to this
ridiculous ban in California this legislative session.  But to do that, we
need your help.  Californians, please gear up for a strong push this year.
Contact me if you can volunteer to be a key contact in your area.  To others
that want to help but don't live here, I'll let you know if there is an
opportunity to write the Governor or not.  We also need everyone's help
financially.  To donate to the legalization effort and the fees of our
lobbyist, please make your checks payable to Californians for Ferret
Legalization and send your contributions to:
 
Californians for Ferret Legalization
410 Mountain Home Road
Woodside, CA  94062
 
Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive over the years.  And thanks
also to so many of you that have sent Christmas cards my way.  For the first
time in about 7 or 8 years, I've been too busy to send out my Christmas
cards (pretty ironic under the circumstances).
 
Anyway, thanks again for your support and encouragement.
Sincerely,
Jeanne Carley
Californians for Ferret Legalization
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[Posted in FML issue 1793]