Hello everyone,
Well, I guess some folks just don't get it-- maybe they never will.
Apparently there is some confusion (so far from just a party of one but in
case there are others) about what this bill will, or will not do for ferret
owners in California. Read the legislative counsel's digest for yourselves,
as well as sections of the bill, then decide: "This bill would allow
domestic ferrets to be owned as pets without a permit if the owner of a
ferret obtains a license on or before July 1 1998...."
AB 363 specifically MANDATES that counties issue licences to ferret owners
between January 1st 1998 and July 1st 1998 if the animals are altered and
vaccinated (assuming that the bill passes the Senate and the Governor). It
removes the ferrets that comply with the bill from the Fish and Game Code
section 2118!!! One person insisted that because the bill doesn't use the
word "grandfather" that these ferrets aren't protected from the ferret
ravaging hordes of DFG wardens who will, with the legalization of the
hundreds of thousands of ferrets here, still insist that they have the legal
authority to harass ferret owners when the State Assembly and State Senate
and the Governor of California will have just granted amnesty those very
people. Now there's a case of extreme paranoia that could turn into a case
of downright stupidity.
Folks, if you've heard talk like this, don't believe it, and do yourselves a
very big favor. Work hard, work very hard, to pass this bill. We didn't
get everything we wanted in this bill, that much is clear. The fact that AB
363 is now just an interim step, and that we will have to put forth another
legalization bill, is also clear. But if AB 363 does not pass, all of the
ferrets in California will stay illegal. All of you will remain criminals.
You will still have to hide your pets from your neighbors. You will still
have to fear retribution from an "ex" (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife,
employer, employee) and you will have gained absolutely nothing from all of
your hard work, effort and expense over these last many years.
If we pass this bill, and you are one of the bright people that license your
ferrets during the amnesty window, you and your pets can enjoy the sunlight.
You can go for walks in the park. You can drive them to their vet
appointments without fear of exceeding the speed limit and finding the
animals confiscated by the CHP. While your paranoid ferret neighbor is
explaining to animal control or DFG why he or she didn't license their
ferrets, perhaps their now ex-ferrets, you will watch from your doorstep
knowing that "tsk, tsk this was such an avoidable situation."
DFG has a real friend in anyone that makes this pitch to you-- "Don't
support the bill because they may come get you." "Don't license your ferrets
because they will know where you live." CA ferret owners, should you hear
such talk, pass it off as rantings from a kook and keep your sights on the
successful passage of AB 363.
Here's what needs to be done:
Our next committee hearing may or may not be bumped on week from August 18th
until the following Monday because of the budget deadlock in Sacramento. I
don't know yet what will happen, so for now assume that we're on for August
18th.
Here are the Senators that need more input from their district: (By the way,
if you have received correspondence from one of these Senators that indicates
their support or opposition, please forward it to me-- my address is at the
bottom, their addresses are on our website)
Senator Burton: San Francisco area
Senator Johnson: Irvine area
Senator Johnston: Stockton area
Senator Kelly: San Diego area
Senator Lee: Oakland area
Senator Vasconcellos: San Jose area
If you live in one of these Senators areas, please get busy writing and
having your friends and family write as well. If you want to put up WANTED
posters in the district, contact me with your mailing address and I'll send
them along!!
Now for the Senate floor vote. Should we pass the Appropriations committee,
we may be on the Senate floor within just a few days. So, what we need is a
concentrated effort in the following districts because we do not know where
these Senators stand: (Again, if you have received correspondence from one
of these Senators that indicates their support or opposition, please forward
it to me):
Senator Alaya: Rancho Cucamonga area
Senator Costa: Fresno/Bakersfield area
Senator Craven: Carlsbad area
Senator Greene: Sacramento area
Senator Hughes: Inglewood area
Senator Hurt: Garden Grove area
Senator Knight: Palmdale/Santa Clarita area
Senator Lockyer: Hayward area
Senator Maddy: Fresno/Bakersfield area
Senator Peace: La Mesa area
Senator Polanco: Los Angeles area
Senator Rosenthal: Van Nuys area
Senator Schiff: Pasadena area
Senator Solis: El Monte area
Senator Watson: Los Angeles area
Keep up the great work, keep up the steady pressure, reach out to new
contacts in your area and tell them how to contact their State Senator and
the Governor. And beware of false prophets....
Jeanne Carley
Californians for Ferret Legalization (CFL)
410 Mountain Home Road Woodside, CA 94062
(415) 851-3750 <[log in to unmask]>
http://www.ferretnews.org-- CFL Website
CALIFORNIANS, YOU CAN FIND OUT YOUR STATE SENATOR BY VISITING THIS SITE!!
IT'S TIME TO CALL AND WRITE YOUR SENATOR AND GOV. WILSON--THE FIRST
COMMITTEE VOTE WILL HAPPEN AUG. 18th!
[Posted in FML issue 2019]
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