Its a pity that the CFL attacks the owners of other exotics by
 
A) Trying to claim ferrets are NOT exotics. Anything not a cat or dog is
   an exotic.  Exotic does NOT mean wild.  It only means 'different'.
B) Stating 'exotics' should not be kept as pets.  Obviously not realizing that
   'exotics' are most often bred in captivity and have been for many
   generations.  Gerbils and domestic skunks even come in more colors then
   ferrets do nowdays and even have shows like cats or dogs.  Domestic rats
   and mice have a number of clubs who held shows before the ferrets ever
   had them, though mostly in England....
C: Claiming 'exotic' means from outside the US...Well...Ferrets, except for
   the black-footed ferret (no relation to the domestic kind) are not native
   to the US either.  However, corn snakes are and have been bred in
   captivity so long that they are often called domesticated snakes by herp
   fanciers.  Many books now refer to wild corn snakes as red rat snakes and
   domestic as corn snakes.  Though from South America, rather then north,
   the cavy (guinea pig) is concidered domesticated and also the chinchilla.
   The chinchilla was defined as domestic all along in CA because of a state
   code that says ALL animals raised for fur are to be concidered as
   domestic animals.  Its not under the F&G laws however, but under the
   agriculture codes..A little digging tends to turn it up..
 
I would like to support the CFL in legalizing ferrets, but not with the
blood of other exotics like hedgehogs, sugar gliders, gerbils, etc.  who are
just as good pets in their own ways as ferrets.  The agenda of the CFL
bothers me, like Georgia when they legalized ferrets by slamming the owners
of other exotics with the 'but ferrets are the same as cats and dogs!' BS..
Well...Hamsters, rats, mice, gold fish, many species of snakes, parrots,
iguanas, canaries, etc.  have all been kept as pets for less time then
ferret were domesticated.  Cheetahs were kept as pets and hunting animals by
the same ancient egyptians that domesticated the ferret.  The 'domestic'
angle is fine, but don't use it so much that no other animals will be
legalized unless proven 'domesticated', otherwise parrots and a lot of other
legal pets will suddenly find themselves 'illegal' in CA.  The F&G has
already made it hard on reptile and fish owners (recently making the CA King
Snake illegal as a pet, except for albinos).
 
I'd rather see the F&G proven in court as a waste of tax money.  Did you
know that a F&G inspector sent to an ostich ranch in CA could not tell an
emu from an ostrich?  Did you know that a tank of oscars (a type of fish)
were destroyed by a F&G official who thought they were piranha?  Talk to pet
shop owners about F&G harrassment.  Speak with exotic animal trainers and
even zoos about what the CA F&G puts them though.  Most of the places and
people with the permits for exotics concider the F&G to be bullies and
idiots, but fear confronting them for fear of losing their permits, which
the F&G can yank for ANY reason they wish, as it even states in their own
rules.  I applaud Marshall Farms for having the guts to sue the F&G and hope
they get all the backing and help they need to win.  Hopefully if enough
people start taking the F&G to court, the state govenment will realize they
goofed and overhaul the F&G dept.
 
I know lower level F&G people who have lost promotions for speaking out for
ferrets or just the way exotics are handled.  The upper level of the F&G are
seeded with animal rights activists and courupt officials who allow the rich
and influencial to own any pet they like, but make sure the 'riff raff' like
the rest of us are denied anything but 'lower class' pets.
 
Ask yourself why Micheal Jackson has a ferret in CA with a permit and not
the rest of us?  (The lady who handles Micheal's permits was the one I
talked to once in a call the the F&G)
[Posted in FML issue 1844]