Hello everyone,
I just heard from Jan's office and was told that AB 363 will be heard
tomorrow!
Anyone interested should go to the third floor of the old capitol building,
(Routunda) and go to the Gallery (you'll have to ask as I don't know). I
was told that cameras are not allowed in the Gallery, so it's best to leave
them in the car-- they'll be taken from you and one of Jan's constituents
had his camera broken, so they recommend not bringing one in.
As to the timing, we don't know. Some of us are planning to arrive 9:00
(anyone travelling with me should meet me at 6:30 at my house) but I can't
stay 'till midnight, only about 3:00-3:30 P.M. The bill could be heard
anytime so we might see it we might not. I hope you'll come anyway and see
how this process works, assuming it does work.
On another note, the California Research Bureau (Government Research Agency)
called me quite a while ago to ask for information on the ferret issue.
Researcher Kenneth Umbach told me that he had received such contradictory
information from DFG and ferret enthusiasts that when he was asked by
"someone" to look into the issue he decided to look for third party
information. I sent him all of our documents and he called various states,
read several research papers, spoke by telephone with ferret owners, and
cruised the internet. When our author's office called to say they got a
copy of the report my first reaction was the usual-- it's going to be biased
against the issue, the truth etc. since this is just another arm of the
government.
Well, not so. The report is very interesting and surprisingly unbiased. It
presents DFG views, our views and then concludes with an evidence and
discussion of each based on third party documents. It is certainly less
acerbic and witty than the PRI report, but does present the ferret as less
of a threat to people and wildlife than other domesticated animals.
"Conclusion It appears improbable that domestic ferrets could establish
feral colonies in California, given the risks of ferrets themselves being
prey." Overall it's a good report and I think this is the agency to conduct
a study should there be one on ferrets.
The only problem I have with the report is the suggestion that one option
for a study would involve releasing ferrets into the wild to see how they
do. Before you get crazy like I did, it's only presented as one option (I'm
sure this came from DFG). "Alternatively, and easier to accomplish, the
Legislature could commission an extensive and impartial survey of states in
which possession of ferrets is legal, conducted by an agency or organizaion,
such as the California Research Bureau, that is not a party to the dispute
over legalization, to determine what impacts have been observed."
Californians for Ferret Legalization has already advised Jan that we will
use all of our resources to fight an attempt to condemn ferrets to certain
death by releasing them into the wild. This inane idea came up several
years ago and at the time I spoke with the president of the State Humane
Board and Virginia Handley of Fund for Animals. I believe we will have
their support to block any such inhumane scenario. I will do everything in
my power to make sure that kind of institutionalized abuse does not happen.
Anyway, I hope many of you can come to the Capitol tomorrow and if you do,
say hello to your own legislators office (including your State Senator).
Jeanne Carley
Californians for Ferret Legalization
410 Mountain Home Road Woodside, CA 94062
(415) 851-3750 <[log in to unmask]>
http://www.ccnet.com/~beisners/gsfs/lobby.html
CALIFORNIANS, YOU CAN FIND OUT YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER AND STATE SENATOR BY
VISITING THIS SITE!! IT'S TIME TO CALL AND WRITE YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER--THE
FLOOR VOTE WILL HAPPEN SOON!
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[Posted in FML issue 1957]
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