I've been watching this bill to see what would happen, since Ruby Fur
Farms is located there and folk on the left coast end up with a large
number of their stock as pets...and shelters end up with them from
there cause many are nasty little biters. There is no love loss between
Mr Ruby and I...so I digress. This bill will include ferret fur farms,
and will effectively stop organizations such as PETA from slipping
"spies" in much as they did with Triple F not long ago. Unfortunately,
it does make it easier for farming and agriculture to cull unwanted
critters by such means as tossing infant animals into large meat
grinders...alive.

There are a few bits of good news in this bill though. The governor
ended up signing a watered down version of it, which now means that it
is only a crime if someone provided false information to gain access
to an agricultural facility. The original version would have made it
a crime to do any type of video taping or photographing without the
owner's permission, which would have [unlawfully] infringed on
"whistleblower" laws. The wording is fairly vague, which will make
it easier to fight in court should a case arise.

Laws like this need to be watched closely for sneaky little amendments
though. And I read that 10 other states are considering similar
legislation, so pay attention to what your state legislature is up to
at all times ladies and gentlemen.

Bonnie Tormohlen
Managing Director
Northern Arizona Ferret Alliance & Rescue, Inc

[Posted in FML 7358]