Things look very dark for California ferret owners. The bill that could
make ferrets legal is in limbo, and a bill that could destroy all hope
of legalization looks as though it might succeed. The California
legislature MUST hear from MORE CALIFORNIANS if anything is to be done.
 
What can an out-of-stater do?
 
One out of every nine U.S. citizens lives in California.  YOU KNOW AT LEAST
ONE OF THEM!  Of course you do.  An uncle, a cousin, a second-cousin
once-removed, a college roommate, those people who are still on your
Christmas card list from year to year, an old girlfriend, your best friend's
kid and her new husband, your nephew going to school there ...
 
It doesn't matter whether these people are ferret owners or not.  Please
email or call EACH of your California connections and ASK THEM to do two
things:
 
1. Call AND fax or write an actual letter (NOT EMAIL!) to their state
senator AND their state assembly member, asking them to OPPOSE AB 409 which
NO LONGER deals with endangered species, and only makes it impossible to
legalize ownership of domestic ferrets.  This bill, AB 409, is not only a
waste of their tax dollars, but it formalizes the criminalization of
otherwise law-abiding people.
 
2. Call AND fax or write an actual letter (NOT EMAIL!) to their state
senator, urging them to SUPPORT AB 363, which DOES support ferret ownership.
This bill, AB 363, is currently "in suspense", and will die unless there is
more interest from the PUBLIC.  This bill, AB 363, will help to save tax
dollars and get government off of people's backs.
 
Your friends and relatives don't have to say much when they call or
write--just be polite and to the point.  You can help them find the names
and contact information for their state senator and assembly member through
the Californians for Ferret Legalization web page: http://www.ferretnews.org
 
Please do this.  The California folks -- CFL, CDFA, FA, and others -- never
stinted at helping folks in other states with their legalization efforts.
 
If you need a story to help convince your friends or relatives to call:
 
-- Tell them about Eugene Soroten, fined and put on probation yesterday
because he chose a pet that people in other states enjoy.  This happened.
 
-- Tell them about the young man JAILED for a year because he refused to
turn his pet over to border police so that they could KILL it.  This
happened.
 
-- Ask your friends how they would feel, landing in a strange country,
separated at the airport from the beloved pet raised from kithood, a pet
that the immigration authorities said was permissible in the United States,
a pet much loved and taken to the vet regularly, a pet that delighted with
its dances and antics, that cheered a little girl when she felt a little
blue, a pet that was always available for hugs and showed its love with
big wet kisses ... ask them how they would feel when the police took this
beloved pet from their young daughter and told her that it would be
immediately killed?  This happened.
 
-- Ask your friends how they would feel, looking through a small window at
their little pet shivering alone in a cramped cage, looking at the pet for
the last time before the state-paid vet comes and gives it a big needle to
the heart ... for no reason except that this state is a little out of step
with the rest of the country.  This happened.  It keeps happening.
 
And if your friends ask you why they should care, tell them: The rights they
take away first are always someone else's.  The AB 409 bill is intended ONLY
to hurt ferret owners ...
 
But maybe next there will be a statewide bill to echo Los Angeles County's
ordinance that owners of any "exotic" pet must register, like sex offenders
and convicted child molesters, with the county police and notify their
neighbors.  Of course, the state gets to define "exotic."
 
Please help.
 
-- Lee, ex-pat, one of the Native Daughters of the Golden West
   Viva la causa! No nos moveran!
[Posted in FML issue 2349]