Hi,
 
In the unlikely event that you have not heard yet...
 
The conservation minister will soon be making a decision on wether or not
pet ferrets will be banned.  She has hinted very strongly that she favours
a ban.  Like the Whitianga canal project debacle, this she can do with the
stroke of a pen (she does not need to consult or take it to a vote).
 
Now here is where you come in...
 
 -----------
 
A fellow fanatic and I have started a petition to lobby the minister to
reconsider.  I am pessimistic about the outcome for my beloved ferrets, but
I cannot sit by and do nothing.  Over the weekend at the Wellington Pet
Expo (which was a fantastic success) we collected around 830 signatures of
support, which I thought was pretty good.
 
If you can help in the collection of signatures, please eMail me privately
for copies of the form and supporting documents (two one page fliers).  Let
me know if you cannot handle Microsoft Word Documents (or WordPad) and we
can try to work something out.
 
The timeframe is very short.
 
 -------------
 
The other thing you can do is to put your point of view to the members of
parliament.  Their eMail addresses can be harvested from the following web
page:
http://www.menz.org.nz/About%20MC/emailadds.htm (scroll down to the "TITLE
Parliament all MP's" section, about half way down the page).  I suggest
that you cut and past the addresses into the BCC: field, so that it is not
so obvious a shotgun approach is being used.
 
I should also like to suggest that you remain civil and that your eMail be
stick to the facts and be fairly succinct.  I have had some favourable
feedback from some politicians on my eMail and you are welcome to use it as
a template if you wish (but please not verbatim).  I and a number of others
have had favourable responses from ACT, NZ First and Labours Chch Central
Tim Barnett who is meeting owners this week to become more informed on the
issue.  I have not received very many replies (or even acknowledgements),
but I was surprised that almost all of those that responded did so
personally.
 
May the Ferret Force be with you.  Always.
-David
 
 
David Holender
The Open Polytechnic Of New Zealand
+64 (04) 560 5760
 
Foundation member of Ferret PAWS (NZ) Inc.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Village/9074/
[Posted in FML issue 3432]