Hello all,
 
Today our bill passed the Assembly Water Parks and Wildlife Committee by
a 12-1 vote in favor which means it has come the furthest it has ever
come in 10 years.  However, we are definitely NOT out of the woods and
faced opposition from Fish and Game, CA Waterfowl, Defenders of Wildife
and the Planning and Conservation League.
 
Testifying in support was our terrific author Senator Dede Alpert whose
comments were absolutely terrific and on target.  Also testifying support
besides Californians For Ferret Legalization were Mike Dillon for the
California Veterinary Medical Association, Kevin Pedrotti for the Pet
Industries Joing 0Advisory Council, Virginia Handley from Fund for
Animals, and an individual ferret supporter, Jim March.  A big thanks
to all of them!
 
We must still pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the full
California State Assembly and the Governor so there are still three more
hurdles to clear before your domesticated pets are granted amnesty here
in California.
 
The bill as passed would require a one time fee of $75.00 per ferret and
proof that the ferret is spayed/neutered and vaccinated against rabies.
The ferret is then granted an amnesty card.  Card carrying ferret(s) are
protected for life.  Should this bill pass, I encourage all of you to pay
this fee to guarantee that your ferret is safe from confiscation, from
the threat of a mean and vindictive neighbor, ex-spouse or ex-employee.
I know that those of you with many ferrets will find this fee a very
large burden but keep in mind that each registered ferret is safe from
the hands of Fish and Game.  Also keep in mind that current permit
holders pay almost $300.00 per ferret annually and face inspections!
 
The majority of your fee, $50.00 will go to a fund to complete an
environmental document and the Fish and Game Commission MUST review this
issue, the environmental document and public testimony in 2006.  In other
words, the ball will be rolling to lift this inane ban on this harmless
domesticated pet.
 
The Committee Members voting in support of our bill were as follows:
 
Joseph Canciamilla, Chair Dem-11
Tim Leslie, Vice Chair Rep-4
Patty Berg Dem-1
Rick Keene  Rep-3
Lynn Daucher Rep-72
Jackie Goldberg Dem-45
Shirley Horton Rep-78
Christine Kehoe Dem-76
Alan Lowenthal Dem-54
Barbara S. Matthews Dem-17
Todd Spitzer Rep-71
Lois Wolk Dem-8
 
Those opposed:
Nicole Parra Dem-30
 
Abstaining:
Fran Pavley Dem-41
Rudy Bermudez Dem-56
 
Absent:
Dario Frommer Dem-43
 
Active chapters of all of the California ferret organizations please
mobilize to contact your Assemblymembers on SB 89.
 
If this will help you in writing your letters, please feel free to
use any or all of it.  It was my unedited testimony in front of the
Water Parks and W ildlife Committee today.  Remember to let your
Assemblymembers know that in the absense of amnesty, which is long
overdue, no ferret owner in California would pay a fee for an
environmental document!
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
The first ferret bill in California was introduced 10 years ago.  Clearly
this issue has some staying power.
 
You can now viisit any CA pet store and there will be a ferret isle with
ferret specific products.  Veterinarians can legally treat ferrets, 20%
of all ferret food is sold here, and Ferrets Magazine sells more copies
in California than any other state.  Ferrets are here, they've been here
in large numbers for well over a decade, yet, there are not now, nor ever
have been any documented feral populations of these pets either here in
California or in the rest of the country.  This fact was confirmed by
our Department of Fish and Game in a 1997 nationwide survey.  That's a
distinction not shared by other domesticated pets.
 
Since the first ferret legalization bill in 1994, ferret owners in
California have compromised again and again trying to work with the
opposition and allay their concerns, in the end agreeing to the most
restrictive pet ownership bill ever.  Why?  Because ferret owners crave
the same legal status for themselves and their pets that owners of
domesticated animals, including ferrets, enjoy in the rest of the
country.
 
Ferret owners in California have had their pets taken away and sometimes
destroyed.  They've been fined, and in a few cases jailed.  They are
subject to blackmail by anyone angry at them for any reason.  An
ex-spouse, ex-girlfriend or boyfriend, or ex-employee has an easy target
for their anger.  It's happend time and time again.
 
It is important to remember that the animals we are talking about are
legal in the rest of the country.  It's also important to remember
that they domesticated.  Every authority including the United States
Department of Agriculture, Museum of Natural History, Humane Society
of the United Sates and over 150 zoos and zoological societies refer to
the ferret as domesticated.  Even our own department of Fish and Game
acknowledges this fact, yet, the ferret finds itself in the hands of a
wildlife agency, specifically named in a section entitled the
Importation, Transportation and Possession of Live Wild Animals.  This
makes no sense.
 
Shortly before the introduction of our first bill, the Fish and Game
Commission removed two animals from the prohibited species list, the
Buffalo and Cam ell, without an environmental document.  Why were these
animals removed?  The Executive Director of the Fish and Game Commission
confirmed that they were removed because they were domesticated.  They
didn't belong in a list of prohibited wildlife.  Neither does the ferret.
 
That is the principal reason why Californians routinely break this law.
Ferret owners in California are the same as ferret owners in the other 48
states.  They are not bad people, and they are not breaking the spirit of
any law.  The law is what is bad and the process to correct this law
should begin today.
 
Please support this bill.
 
Jeanne Carley
Californians for Ferret Legalization
[Posted in FML issue 4539]