>i would really appreciate it if all you wonderful folks in the States, who
>have been forced to face this kind of mind-boggingly frustrating #$%^@!!,
>would please tell me what to do...what you did to change things...
 
Hi Norma -
 
Pardon the delay, I'm behind on my reading.  What we (actually Sharon
Burbine) did in Mass was to get an extra telephone line and list the number
in the Directory as the number for 'Mass Friends of the Domestic Ferret'.
Then we printed up lots of fliers with a ferret's picture and stating that
he needed help to make him legal.  We asked that the reader:
1) Call his/her State Representative and
2) Stay in touch with the Ferret Hotline.
 
When people called the hotline number, they heard a recorded message
updating them on the progress made in solving the problem, and how they
could help at the moment.  They were also requested to leave their telephone
number or someway to get in touch with them.  We got in touch with those
that left a message, and ultimately sent many of them additional fliers to
post, and met or talked with them to share ideas.  We tried very hard
throughout the campaign not to place blame, or to offend any public official
or potential volunteer.  We were merely trying to look out for the welfare
of ferrets, to educate (and learn ourselves), and to gain support in order
to overturn what we saw as an antiquated law which no longer served its
original purpose.
 
An awful lot of people came forward to help out in many ways big and small,
some of which I am sure we don't know of today.  The beauty of it was that
because everyone agreed on the outcome, we could each work somewhat
independently and creatively to bring it all about.  Nobody asked for
permission or what to do, they just did what they thought best at the time
to make it all come true.  The 'statistics' and all that, just seemed to be
there as a result of people thinking and reflecting on what people told us
during the year, and then discussing it with others.  We asked if what we
were hearing seemed reasonable and went from there.
 
Take your time and try and enjoy the journey.  As the California folks can
attest to, none of this is guaranteed to be easy or even done quickly,
however you will find as we did, that there are some great people out there
just waiting to help out.  Some of them may live right around the corner
from you.
 
          - Bill Williamson
 
P.S. Fliers were mostly made with the program Microsoft Write, which comes
with windows.  The picture was taken from a book with the use of a Xerox
machine which was then cut out and pasted to the top of the computer print
out before being xeroxed again.  Later we got a little fancier and made a
brochure using Microsoft Word.  Not really high tech, just a few people
sitting around thing up crazy ideas and writing them down, later taking some
of the ones that still looked good after thinking about them.
[Posted in FML issue 1526]