Dear Ferret Lovers, As most of you know, I've been trying to change the unfair law in California that bans a single domesticated pet, the ferret, by misclassifying it as wild. This effort began in the early 1990's and has continued through 12 years of ferret bills. The bill this year is an effort to craft legislation which Governor Schwarzenegger can sign (his veto message of last year mentioned the need for an environmental assessment). Though Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the previous bill as too bureaucratic, he is the first CA Governor to appear positive towards ferrets in general and we believe his office would like to resolve this long-standing issue. And we know that a fair assessment of the ferret's impact on the environment will result in the determination that there are no significant impacts from a change in the law and that California will join the rest of the states on the continent by legalizing ferrets next year. But to do that, it is crucial that the truth of the matter be heard in Sacram ento and specifically by the Governor's Office. The only way to make that happen is to be able to use our lobbyist Bob Naylor, one of the partners of the top lobbying firm in Sacramento, Neilsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller & Naylor. Bob has given us his time at a discount over these last 12 years. And Bob is still giving this issue his most economical rate. But we need his time now more than ever. We not only must get a bill to the Governor crafted in a way that he will sign it, but we must also make sure than the environmental assessment made by the state is fair and honest. Any honest assessment of this issue will result in the negative declaration (the determination that legalization spayed/neutered ferrets will have no significant impact on the environment) that we need for legalization. All of my time on this issue, meetings, hearings, testimony in Sacramento, literally thousands of hours by now, is volunteer. And I am committed to seeing this bill through, but I have come to the end of my financial rope. I will not be working on another ferret bill. So, I need your financial help, desperately, to be able to continue to get the best representation for our issue in Sacramento. I urge you to take a moment this 4th of July weekend to write a check payable to (and mail to the address shown): Neilsen, Merksamer & Naylor 1415 L St., Suite 1200 Sacramento, CA 95814 VERY IMPORTANT: Write FOR FERRET LEGALIZATION on your check. Or, you can write the check payable to Neilsen, Merksamer & Naylor and mail it to me and I will forward it on with a letter specifying the Ferret Legalization Account. Checks sent to me should be addressed to: Jeanne Carley 410 Mountain Home Road Woodside, CA 94062 [log in to unmask] P.S. Feel free to post this message to ferret boards and web sites. [Posted in FML issue 4927]