Hello everyone,
 
Jan's office called today.  Dad and I (if I can get off that day) are going
to have a meeting with Mr. Craven next week.  Hopefully Jan will be able to
attend as well.  We don't know if there will be an open mind at that meeting
or not, but one thing Peter (Jan's aide) requested was that the ferret folks
tone down their letters.  Apparently some have called the Sierra Club Nazis
and other names and that has hurts our efforts.
 
Remember, it is entirely appropriate to let an organization know that their
facts are inaccurate or absent, to let them know of your disapproval, and
your outrage. But we must remember to always stop short of name-calling.  It
serves no purpose but to make the writer feel better and usually ends up
hurting the very cause one hopes to advance.  Dad and I are currently trying
to enlist the help of one well known animal rights advocate who was
apparently offended some years ago by an overzealous ferret spokes person
and abandoned the cause.
 
Keep your letters to the Sierra Club from going over the edge, please.  As I
explained to Peter, there will be some emotion in these letters because good
people are fined, jailed, lose their pets, their apartments etc.  because of
a mistake the State made over 60 years ago.  When an organization like the
Sierra Club sanctions that, folks are going to be outraged.  After all,
unless there are only gold fish owners at the Sierra Club, virtually any pet
their members own will and has done more damage to the environment than the
ferret!
 
There is nothing wrong with an impassioned position or letter, but no one
will listen if the tone becomes abusive.  So please, remember if you're
really angry to go ahead and write a letter with all of the names you'd like
to call someone, then throw that letter away and write one that the reader
can not dismiss because though it may be angry, it is still respectfull.
 
                            +++
 
Both Jan and Bud Jackson have recommended that we continue to write letters
to the editors of our local newspapers.  These letters should question the
validity of the Sierra Club's positon in opposing the legalization of one of
the safest pets to the environment as well as Californias first spay/neuter
bill.
 
You can find the address for the editor in your local newspaper.
 
Jeanne Carley
Californians for Ferret Legalization
410 Mountain Home Road  Woodside, CA  94062
(415) 851-3750   <[log in to unmask]>
http://www.ccnet.com/~beisners/gsfs/lobby.html
CALIFORNIANS, YOU CAN FIND OUT YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER AND STATE SENATOR BY
VISITING THIS SITE!! IT'S TIME TO CALL AND WRITE YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER--THE
FLOOR VOTE WILL HAPPEN SOON!
[Posted in FML issue 1942]