Hello FMLers,
For the CA person wishing to fly their ferrets out of state, please exercise
caution. I do ferret rescue here and have a permit from the Department of
Fish and Game. I generally fly ferrets out via cargo or dash but have, on a
couple of occasions flown with them to their new homes. In every case, I
have been required to show a copy of my permit. In at least one case,
though I was told I could have the ferret in the cabin by the young man
taking my reservation. However, upon checking in at the San Jose airport, I
was told that ferrets were illegal in CA (REALLY??) and that I'd have to
ship the animal cargo which meant I missed the flight. (A very angry call
to our nice DFG Captain of this region resulted in almost VIP treatment for
me and the ferret on the next flight-- I did threaten to quit ferret
rescue!) Anyway, the point is, that the reservation folks may say one thing
and another could very well happen at the airport. You may be asked to show
a permit depending upon the airlines. I just want to caution you-- there
may be no problem at all since the ferrets are leaving the State but I've
had problems even in those cases where I'm shipping a ferret out.
To Jason looking to legalize ferrets in Minneapolis, I have copies of
documents proving the ferret's status as domesticated. If you let send me a
self-addressed stamped envelop (3.00 postage) I'll send them your way.
I'll be at the AFA show in Maryland and will have, besides The Ferret
Company's products (calendars, mugs, T's & cards), about 200 copies of
letters urging ferret fans to write to the Sierra Club/Audubon Society. If
you're going to the show, please stop by and pick one up. You can photocopy
it and pass it along to your friends and relatives. Their position affects
you because you and your pet are not welcome in CA even though owners of
other domesticated pets that impact the environment are. Besides seriously
hurting our efforts to legalize ferrets in California, opposition to ferret
ownership by these organizations is a double standard that should not be
tolerated.
Finally, I've found that I have so little free time that I've decided to
unsubscribe from the FML for now. I'll still post important legalization
information to the list because I know that there are many people who find
the information important and useful and act on it. I know that our
webmaster and others will forward posts regarding CA to me and anyone
interested in what is currently happening in California should bookmark the
Californians for Ferret Legalization website at http://www.ferretnews.org.
It is the most up to date and accurate website on the ferret legalization
efforts here. You can also e- mail me directly at [log in to unmask], or
[log in to unmask], if you have any questions or want to help out.
Besides the continuing legalization effort, I am very interested spending
more time on our new 501(c)3 IRS tax-exempt Corporation, The Ferret
Education Foundation. There is a real need to help ferret shelters and
humane societies provide educational materials for prospective ferret owners
and the general public. As long as there is a growing demand for ferrets,
and part of that demand is based upon ignorance, ferrets will go from those
pet stores and breeders who do not take the time to adequately screen or
inform prospective ferret owners, into the hands of people unprepared to
meet the animal's needs for its lifetime. And from there, they will
continue to go to shelters in ever increasing numbers. We believe that the
most important way we can help is to produce informative flyers or booklets
describing the true nature and special needs of ferrets with an eye towards
helping prospective ferret owners make an informed decision about ferret
ownership and all of the responsibility it entails. We hope to stop the
impulse buy, to give people the information necessary to carefully evaluate
whether a ferret is the right pet for them and their family, and to help
ensure that the match is a permanent one. Certainly there are many
responsible stores and breeders providing good information to irresponsible
invividuals who simply should not own ferrets but who do so anyway.
Hopefully they are a smaller percentage than those who simply need more
information before making their decision and can use the information we plan
on making available.
And thank you to the ACME Ferret Company for their generous donation of 10%
of the proceeds from the sale of the beautiful Maltese penny necklaces to
the Ferret Education Foundation. Since money from the sale funds the very
ferret-informative League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts website,
donating 10% of the proceeds to a second ferret charity is extremely
generous. We hope to be able to match our $50,000 current endowment in the
near future so we can begin printing and distributing our educational
materials.
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!!
CALL AND WRITE YOUR SENATOR AND GOV. WILSON--DON'T LET OUR BILL DIE!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For pure ferret fun, check out http://www.ferretcalendar.com
[Posted in FML issue 2151]
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