Lynn wrote:
>In my state FL, there is a law, statute 828.29 that states "All dogs &
>cats offered for sale must be at least 8 weeks old, have an official State
>of FL Certificate of Veterinary Inspection signed by a veterinarian, have
>proper shots, (all shots) & be free of intestinal & external parasites."
 ......
 
Yes LYNN-
THIS is what the NH law read before our amendment!
 
This will not apply to ferrets in your FL law currently - it needs a
inclusion phrase - BUT it is the starting place to make the law equal for
the ferrets.  This will help bring other laws more in line to protect
ferrets as cats in dogs in FL.  Once you accomplish this you can broaden
your law changes to include cruelty laws etc. in the future.
 
The task at hand for you is to must find a sympathetic representative in
the FL house , an animal lover who will present the bill.  If you know
any folks involved in the shelter community for cats & dogs now is the
time to start looking for folks who will testify on your behalf!
 
And with the help of your state rep start to draw up a revision which will
extend this to ferrets.  It does take time to get these bills scheduled
for legislature but the work is in getting the paperwork ready & filed.
This is a fair and common sense approach.  Using references in published
texts we were able to convince both the senate and the legislature it was
an appropriate bill in no time.  Heck we were even commended for all the
materials we submitted making it an easy job!  Rememeber to be very polite
and politically correct.  Hollering, name calling etc will not do the
cause any good.  These are reasonable folks you will be appealing to,
they KNOW dogs and cats, now you r job will be to teach them ferrets are
companions which deserve protection too.
 
ALso the bonus is this can be dually approached as a consumer protection
law-- and they ( lawmakers) LIKE that!
 
I will help as I can amongst the million other shelter tasks when you
start the process.  Feel free to email me at the above addy!
 
Good luck by realizing you have the FL law on the side of cats & dogs you
need only to apply that to the ferrets-- you are almost home!
 
Alicia
www.ferretwise.org
[Posted in FML issue 3800]