Hello everyone,
This is a letter of opposition sent to our next committee, the Water,
Parks and Wildlife Committee by the lobbyists for the California Waterfowl
Association. As you can see from the letter, it's full of misinformation
and completely baseless and false statements about domesticated ferrets and
their ability to impact people and wildlife.
The non-native argument is, of course, a total red-herring. Those Labrador
retrievers they use to collect the ducks they've shot are not native to
this country either. Nor is the Siamese cat or Arabian horse! And the
claim that ferrets are "ravenous eaters of the eggs of California
waterfowl." Really? On what basis? There are no feral ferrets in
California, and absolutely no reports of impact on wildlife of any kind.
How dare they make this unsubstantianed claim. It's completely outrageous
that this kind of baseless statement is presented as fact to members of the
legislature! Why would the wildlife departments in 7 states that recently
legalized ferrets support such an action if ferrets were so deleterious to
wildlife?
The claim that ferrets "could easily escape and breed in the wild"
completely ignores every survey done in this country on feral ferrets.
They don't breed in the wild, in fact there are no feral ferrets anywhere
in this country. Even stray ferrets are very rare, only occasionally
encountered by humane societies and animal control mostly in urban
environments. Ferrets are no threat to the environment, it's actually
the other way around!
Perhaps the most outlandish argument to this committee is the dire
threat to children that ferrets pose and the old NY Department of Health
information. They don't tell these committee members that the city council
of NY voted IN FAVOR of lifting the ban and that the only reason the law
wasn't changed was because the Mayor vetoed it! And to make this extremely
lame argument in light of the ferrets relative safety to people and
children after several well-publicized dog attacks in northern California
makes the letter verge on the hysterical.
And of course this organization wants to see ferret legalization held
hostage to a $100,000.00 environmental study that is both unnecessary and
unwarranted. Owners of other domesticated pets did not have to ante up
such a figure! They know that the study will never be done because you are
required to pay for it. Even if one of you won the recent lottery, the
Fish and Game Commission has made it clear that the completion of the study
doesn't guarantee a public hearing, nor does the public hearing guarantee a
vote in our favor. Dealing with the current Fish and Game Commission is a
waste of time. The rules change constantly, the ante is too high and the
odds are way too long in favor of any kind of fair hearing. Californians
for Ferret Legalization has withdrawn it's petition in front of the
Commission. There will be no environmental document!
Listen up Californians! You need to take this as a warning to redouble
your efforts to get friends and family members to write to their State
Assemblymember now. We have to counter this kind of false and inflammatory
misinformation from a powerful group and the only way to do that in the
absence of money is through sheer numbers. I urge you to not sit back and
let this organization make criminals out of you, or threaten your pets,
because of some false claims of a threat to their "sport".
As you can see, this letter was also sent to the Governor's office so you
can bet that should we get through this committee and through the Assembly,
we'll have to fight them there as well. That's why you need to continue
to collect those signatures!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Kenyon and Edelstein
Legislative Advocates
TO: Members of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee
FROM: Alan L. Edelstein, Donald B. Gilbert, and Steven D. Cruz
RE: SB 1093 (JOHANNESSEN) -- OPPOSE
DATE: June 18, 2001
Our client, the California Waterfowl Association, is opposed to SB 1093
(Johannessen), which would circumvent preparing an environmental impact
report on the impact of legalizing ferrets as determined necessary by the
Fish and Game Commission, would grandfather in some of these non-native,
predatory animals in a completely unenforceable manner, and would
thereafter require the Fish and Game Commission to make a determination
whether these weasels should be removed from the state's list of prohibited
species.
Ferrets are not native to California and, therefore, are a threat to
California's native wildlife. Specifically, ferrets are ravenous eaters
of the eggs of California waterfowl. SB 1093 has no provisions to ensure
that "pet" ferrets will be locked up. But even if it did, they could
easily escape and breed in the wild, where they could devastate native
waterfowl populations.
In addition to their threat to the environment, ferrets present a danger
to public health, particularly to children in an urban environment. As the
attached statement from the New York City Department of Health points out,
ferrets can squeeze through small openings and unpredictably attack
children and infants.
SB 1093 is completely unenforceable and nonsensical. It provides that
ferrets that are in the state on May 1, 2001 will be legal if they are
spayed or neutered and vaccinated against rabies by January 1, 2002. The
bill has absolutely no enforcement provisions. It does not say how a
ferret is identified in order to verify when it arrived or was born in the
state. Moreover, between May 1, 2001 and January 1, 2002, ferrets that
have not been spayed or neutered and have not had a rabies vaccination
will have amnesty and be free to roam.
SB 1093 puts the cart before the horse. After legalizing the ferret,
the bill charges the Fish and Game Commission with determining whether to
take ferrets off of the prohibited species list. Since ferrets will have
already been allowed in California without any provision for enforcing
the limits in the bill, there will be no way to reverse the situation
regardless of what the Commission determines. It is doubtful that ferrets
will give themselves up or that those not neutered or spayed will stop
having children if the Commission decides against them.
Prior versions of ferret legislation as well as prior versions of SB 1093
required the Department of Fish and Game, in consultation with the
Department of Health Services and the Department of Food and Agriculture,
to conduct a comprehensive study of the impacts of legalizing ferrets in
the state, including an estimate of the number of ferrets in California.
The current version of SB 1093 tosses out that comprehensive study and
simply requires the Commission to base its determination on "relevant
information and public testimony."
The bill ignores the fact that the Fish and Game Commission previously
reviewed the situation and determined in April of 2000 that an
environmental impact report is necessary as part of the consideration of
legalizing ferrets. Ferret supporters have apparently decided not to
comply with the Commission's determination.
The proponents of ferret grandfathering often contend that 500,000 ferrets
reside in California and that, therefore, no harm is done by legalizing
them. Quite to the contrary, legalizing them would tend to make people
feel freer to relax constraints on them, thereby increasing the likelihood
of escape and the problems raised by the New York City Health Department.
And, as mentioned above, there would be no way of ensuring that additional
ferrets would not be added to the ranks. We would also point out that the
assertion of 500,000 illegal ferrets is in serious dispute. Estimates of
the true number are as low as 50,000.
For the reasons stated above, our client, the California Waterfowl
Association, respectfully asks for a "NO" vote on SB 1093.
Enclosure
cc: The Honorable Maurice Johannessen
Consultant, Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee
Greg Hurner, Consultant, Assembly Republican Caucus
Linda Adams, Deputy Legislative Secretary, Governor's Office
Governor's Office of Planning and Research
David Bunn, Deputy Director, Department of Fish and Game
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeanne Carley
Californians for Ferret Legalization
410 Mountain Home Rd.
Woodside, CA 94062
(650) 851-3750
www.ferretnews.org
[Posted in FML issue 3460]
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