I apologize in advance for any duplicate postings to anyone.
 
Attention Ferret Community Nation/World Wide
 
Pat, you have my deepest sympathy and condolences.  I cannot begin to
imagine how angry, betrayed and hurt you feel.  Please know that my prayers
as well as many others go out to you and Rocky both.
 
Please fully read all of this before doing anything about the tragedy in
California regarding Rocky.  No one is more angry, furious, upset, and just
plain mad about this than I am (well may Pat Wright and his SO).  In my
personal opinion what was done was WRONG.  There is no justification in my
book for the actions of both the Dept.  of Health in CA or the Dept.  of
Fish and Game in this mess.  Poor Rocky just didn't have enough money to buy
the system off.
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *H O W E V E R * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This is where is gets sticky.  We have in the past (I include all of the
ferret community in the we) reacted in a very HOSTILE manner towards
negative occurrences where ferrets are concerned.  Michigan felt first hand
what it was like and so have many of the CA legislators.  And with the
correct information and hard work on the part of many of the Ferret
Community we got the HSUS to change its long standing policy when dealing
with ferret bites.  I've said it before and I feel I must again, No One in
their right mind takes on the ferret community unless they want them on
their side.  If we are against something or feel it needs to be changed we
are a very powerful nationwide grassroots organization.  There in lies the
problem.  What works in favor for the rest of the states seems to work
against in CA.  Let me site an example.
 
During the recent AB363 hearings and meetings, Assemblyman Dick Floyd was
heard saying something very negative about ferrets in general.  Got my
dander up too, and not just a little.  Since the internet allows us easy
communication nationwide, everyone who is on top of ferrets issues anywhere
heard about it.  And apparently, the majority responded by sending
Assemblyman Floyd 'hate' mail.  Not letters politely stating where he was
wrong, asking him to re-examine the issue, or giving him the correct facts,
those are not what I would call 'hate' mail.  But letters calling him names,
harassing his office and fax machine with nasty messages.  THESE HURT the CA
LEGALIZATION EFFORT IMMENSELY.
 
You say "How".  Valid question.  Upon investigation, I have found out that
Assemblyman Floyd is just one of those people that likes to be contrary.  He
appears to be the kind of person who if you said you were a sheriff and
wanted to bring this law into effect to help people, he might respond with
something like "You were a security guard at a 7-11 and your mother wears
combat boots too".  See what I mean about what type of person he is.  He
ALWAYS (from what I have been able to determine) goes against the grain.
Likes to see feathers ruffled I guess.  Some people are like that.  .
RESULT: Not only is Assemblyman Floyd against ferrets now, he is AGAINST
ANYTHING our bill's author brings up.  Which means if our author has a bill
pending for anything (tax cuts, aids help, welfare, anything) Assemblyman
Floyd uses his position to make sure this doesn't happen.  Legislators can
and do do this.  Look what Willie Brown did to us in '94.  He single
handedly killed our bill, only because he didn't like the guy who wrote it.
This in turn has our author probably questioning why he ever got involved in
the ferret issue to begin with.  It's got the potential to cause him some
major harm, the good guy, and in turn the legalization issue in this way.
 
We've got to use our heads and remain cool in this crisis.  We can respond
with name callings and harassing Gov. Wilson's office as well as others or
we can choose to use this as a tool to aid the legalization efforts.  We can
use it to prove how many of us there are out there that know the facts.
Relate the facts, the new Compendium study, and correct information in a
polite manner to these individuals.  THANK those that have worked for us in
the past and acknowledge their help.  Tell the Assemblyperson how much you
appreciate him/her standing in our corner.  DON'T get nasty, spiteful, or
downright, vindictive in your letters/calls/faxes to those who do not
support legalization.  Make sure they have the correct and accurate
information and let them decide based on that.  Not all of them are going to
decide in our favor.  But some do and as each one falls it's another step on
the road we've all been travelling so long here.
 
I've been told that the meeting with F&G, and CA Dept of Health, and the
Senators along with Jeanne Carley went extremely well this week.  And the
overall effort is once again making some positive progress.  DON'T lets cut
off our noses with this tragic incident.
 
I am begging for cool heads, clear thinking, and positive work for the
legalization efforts in CA.
 
Marie Davis
[Posted in FML issue 2183]