If anyone in the SF Bay area watched the 11 o'clock news on Channel 4 last
night, they saw Pete Wilson make a fool of himself reading a story on the
Ferret Freedom March in San Diego.  His tone of voice made it seem that
ferrets were vicious little creatures that no one in their right mind would
ever legalize.  There was a video clip of a ferret holding on to someone's
finger and dancing, and he stated that "it was known" that ferrets attacked
infants.  Here is the Email I sent in response, and if anyone else cares to
register a protest, the Email address is [log in to unmask]
 
>Subj:   Ferret Freedom March
>Date:   98-01-02 10:36:25 EST
>From:   Cat13Dog5
>To:     [log in to unmask]
>
>I would like to register a STRONG protest against the way Pete Wilson read
>the story pertaining to the ferret freedom march in San Diego on last
>night's 11 o'clock news.
>
>This may be a "non" story to you, and he obviously felt his sarcastic
>undertone was appropriate, but to the hundreds of thousands (Yes!  HUNDREDS
>OF THOUSANDS) of people who own ferrets in California, it is NOT a joke!
>Ferrets are wonderful little creatures with charming personalities all their
>own.  They do NOT attack infants, any more than you can say dogs or cats
>"attack" infants.  It is the responsibility of the parent to supervise ANY
>pet when there is a small child present.  Are you aware that California is
>the only state (except Hawaii) where ferrets are still illegal?  If, indeed,
>they are such bloodthirsty, vicious creatures, why isn't your news just full
>of stories about attacks?
>
>To those of us who have written letters and gone to Sacramento and struggled
>for years to have this ridiculous prohibition on ferrets rectified, it was a
>slap in the face.  If he had just read the story in a normal manner, I would
>have been upset.  But his sneering delivery made an inaccurate and slanted
>piece of propaganda by the CDF&G even harder to take.  You ran a video of a
>ferret playing with a person, (holding on to a finger and dancing), and
>implied it was an attack.  What's next?  A picture of a puppy playing tug of
>war with a stick and the caption
>"Aggressive Beast Decimates Rain Forest"?
>
>I am quite sure that you will be inundated with letters from ferret owners
>both in and out of California expressing their dismay.  You can rest assured
>that I will never watch KRON news again.  I prefer accurate information.
>
>Linda Gaylord
>PO Box 20634
>El Sobrante, CA 94820-0634
[Posted in FML issue 2174]