Ms. Carley not only attended the meeting but testified as well. Here is her accounting of the events of the meeting on Nov. 2, 1995 [CDFA1] CDFA Moves Issue Ahead with Fish and Game Commission When my father, Floyd Carley, made his terrific presentation to the Fish and Game Commission in August this year, it was so well organized and delivered that the Commission directed (they did not ask) that the department respond to the issues he raised. Having seen the same lies about ferrets told over and over again by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and the Department of Health Services (DHS) I stood up and respectfully asked that the California Domestic Ferret Association be invited back to rebut any testimony the department might give. Little did I know then that the event would snowball. Shortly after Dad's presentation, I was in Sacramento for one of the many legislative meetings between CDFA lobbyist Bob Naylor, CVMA lobbyist Mike Dillon, and PIJAC lobbyist Kevin Pedrotti and CDFA. We were organizing our combined approach to the 11 Senators on our Natural Resources committee. At that meeting I told Mike Dillon that this was the first time I'd ever seen any movement from the commission, and that I thought they should hear from Dick Schumacher and the CVMA on this issue. The veterinarian's position had never been presented to this body and it was an excellent opportunity for the commissioners to hear from a professional association harmed by the ferret ban. Mike agreed and asked that I call Dick about sending a letter or testifying in person. Dick was unsure of the possibilities from this hearing but agreed to attend and testify in person. At that time Dick told me of the harassment of Janet and Barry Weber of Fresno by a DFG warden. He said they could add a personal side to this issue and asked that I call them and coordinate their testimony as well as the rest of the testimony to be presented. After talking with Janet and Barry, it was clear that their story about the absurd 22 hour DFG stake-out of their home, and the harassment of their neighbors over this minuscule non-issue could be particularly damaging to DFG as an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars. In the meantime, Dad was dissecting the DHS report, as well as DFG claims about the ferret with factual information from credible sources, and I was making calls to CDFA members to pre-screen them for the CVMA-organized visits to the Senators on our committee. In the course of calling folks in Senator Killea's district, I happened upon a member of ours by the name of Ed Hamilton. Ed's business is in Bionomics. He is a consultant on wildlife issues, specifically waterfowl, and actually is on a DFG committee. I asked him to address the impact of the ferret on ground-nesting birds in the U.S., and to address the New Zealand question, as undoubtedly it would come up. At the same time, both Bob Naylor, the CDFA lobbyist, Dick Schumacher of the CVMA, had been trying to allay Farm Bureau concerns on this issue. Bob Naylor made several calls but was having difficulty getting the two sides together so I asked Bob about enlisting Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith's help. I told him that Jan had suggested that the Dad and I and Bill meet with the Farm Bureau to present our evidence so perhaps Jan would help organize such a meeting. Bob though it was a good idea so suggested I call Jan about it. Since it was already after 6:00 P.M when I got off the phone with Bob Naylor., I didn't really expect to reach Jan but hoped to simply leave a message. Fortunately Jan was in and took my call. He cares so deeply about this issue that he not only offered to organize something with the Farm Bureau, but when I told him of the CDFA presentation in a few days, he offered to testify. I told him about the federal study by the Office of Technology Assessment documenting an absence of feral ferrets and immediately faxed a copy his way. Jan's desire to become a part of this presentation was key and all of the participants were excited with the prospect of his attendance. The stage was now set for the best case for ferret legalization ever heard by this commission. At 8:30 A.M., the participants all met for breakfast at the Holiday Inn on the Bay, Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith, Matt Adams from Jan's office, the Webers, Dick Schumacher, Ed Hamilton, Dad, Bill and I sat down over breakfast to go over a list I provided for each participant of all of the persons testifying and their topics. It was only necessary to determine the order. Everyone concurred that Jan should go first. This committee doesn't usually hear from Assembly members and we knew his appearance would set the tone. Next Dad would testify as the major rebuttal, then Dick, then Ed, then the Webers, then me and, for clean-up, Bill. Jan's testimony was impassioned and articulate. He said that this was a clear case of over-regulation and a waste of taxpayer dollars. He held the OTA report up and said that this animal is clearly domesticated and clearly not a problem. Jan highlighted the 250,000-500,000 illegal domestic ferrets already in this state. He asked that the Commission do their job and classify this animal as normally domesticated in this state, and that the legislature would do their job by putting into place appropriate regulations on the ownership of the domestic ferret. Jan's committment to this issue was clearly evident to the Commissioners and I think helped to communicate to them that this issue is not about to go away. My father was next, and one by one literally shredded anti-ferret claims in the infamous 1987 DHS report. From phantom feral populations, to misquoted experts, to gross hyperbole on the ferrets' threat to children, as well the rabid nature of DHS statements on the disease in ferrets, the DHS report was shown to be exactly what it is: an advocacy piece for the ban on ferrets produced at the request of DFG. Dad amassed over 20 exhibits from outside agencies documenting the incorrect and misleading statements by both agencies on this issue. Dad said that if ferrets could sue for libel, they'd have a very strong case! He also highlighted our key issue, jurisdiction, with over 50 cites that the animal in question is domesticated. Dick Schumacher followed with an explanation to the Commission that if the Health Department's concern was truly for public health issues that the ferret needed to come out of the closet and be vaccinated for rabies and other diseases. He described the predicament of California's veterinarians whose code of ethics mandate that they treat all animals yet treatment of ferrets means they could lose their licenses because they are considered to be in possession by current DFG rules. Dick told the commission that the CVMA and the AVMA considers the ferret to be a domesticated species, and that neither group advocates the keeping of wild animals as pets. He also caught the Health Department in its incorrect statement that euthanasia for rabies vaccinated ferrets that bite is universal. Dick's testimony was strong and compelling. The CVMA is one of this issue's strongest advocates, their claims are rational and unemotional. (Having seen the DHS letter before the hearing I asked Marie Davis to contact the Bossarts in New Hampshire about the letters they had on Health Department letterhead from Virginia, Ohio, and Colorado, regarding observed quarantine times for vaccinated ferrets that bite. They kindly overnighted this information to me and I passed these on to Dick at the breakfast meeting. I had previously provided him with a copy of the New Hampshire bill that the Bossarts were instrumental in passing that mandates a 45 day quarantine for healthy vaccinated ferrets that bite. All I can say is that it was wonderful to see another DHS misstatement of fact go up in flames. Thanks Marie, Dick and Joan.) Ed Hamilton reminded the Commission that he is on a DFG appointed committee as an expert in waterfowl concerns, and has traveled extensively in New Zealand and all over the world. He was referenced in recent books about Mustelids and has worked with the San Diego Zoo for years. Ed addressed the question of any impact from the ferret on waterfowl testifying that literally no reports of morbidity or mortality from the domestic ferret have been documented in this country. He told them that New Zealand does not prohibit the keeping of ferrets as pets. Rats, cats, snakes and man, he testified, have done more damage than all of the mustelids combined will ever do, and that a comparison of island and mainland ecosystems was not appropriate. After hearing from scientists and professionals, it was the Webers turn. Janet Weber was alleged, by an overzealous DFG wardenette, to be in possession of a ferret. This warden alleged that she saw Mrs. Weber in a veterinarians office holding a sick ferret. I saw the police report and had to laugh out loud when the warden reported that since she was with her 5 year old son, she feared for his safety and was unsure of how to proceed without putting him in "further jeopardy". My god, if Mrs. Weber had a sick ferret, I can't imagine how this kindly, 45 (or so) year old woman with one sick ferret adds up to a deadly combination for a 5 year old. What hysterics. Anyway, Janet testified that this female warden and another female warden literally staked out her house for over 20 hours, stalked her, ran DMV checks on her licenses and those of her neighbors, broke a pane of glass in her door by pounding on it, and gained entry to her neighbor's property by false pretenses all over the suspicion that the Weber's had.... a ferret. The Weber's letter to their Assemblymember asked that DFG's budget be slashed so that real crime in their area could be better addressed. The Webers also testified about a neighbor harassed by the same warden who may go into premature labor because of this same warden's anti-ferret zeal. The interim and deputy director of DFG encouraged the Webers to file a citizens complaint against this clearly overzealous warden.. I testified that California's unique and unjustified ferret ban had horrific effects, not just for Californian's like the Webers but for visitors surprised at the Agriculture Inspection Stations. I mentioned the 11 year old from Canada, recently separated from his dying mother, now cruelly separated from his only pet. I reminded the commission of the young student from Arizona who was jailed! I presented the Commission with loving photos of children and their ferrets taken in Oregon which could just have easily been taken in any of the 50 states, including California, and virtually the world because ownership of the ferret is a universal right. I told them that Californians knew they were not criminals for exercising this right and that this is why this law is so widely ignored. Bill Phillips asked to follow any opposition viewpoints but unfortunately his request was denied. He then pointed out that no other wildlife agency spends one dime on this issue and told the commission that since he began working on ferret legalization no less than 5 states have legalized the ferret, all while California wildlife officials maintained that California was on the cutting edge. He said that if that were the case, he'd prefer that none of these trend setters carve his Thanksgiving Day turkey. Next up, in opposition, was the ubiquitous Mr. Michael Winikoff from the Humane Society of the United States expressing concernsa about the impact of ferrets on Humane Agencies. As Dad said about DFG testimony, the word concerns was used so often that it was apparent that opposition was long on concerns and short on evidence. Mr. Winikoff is the "ferret expert" who wrote to the Senators on our committee that "when wild animals such as ferrets are kept as pets...." He claimed that ferrets can and do have a substantial effect on Humane agencies without any evidence to back up these statements. I asked him later if he had a copy of the survey I did on the impact of the domestic ferret on animal control and humane agencies. He claimed that he wrote the CDFA main address but never received one. Neither Bill nor I have ever seen any request from HSUS for any information. Maybe they don't want to know the truth because they can't repeat it. In any case, the survey will be sent to Mr. Winikoff but we doubt that it will make a significant difference in his organization's opposition to domestic ferret ownership because contrary to what Mr. Winikoff says, the HSUS does have something against ferrets and their owners. He also testified that HSUS had opposed ferret legalization everywhere, another lie. There was no opposition by HSUS to Michigan's bill and there is none to the Massachusetts bill. Dad was able to refute some of this when he was asked later to clarify some CDFA data. Again, I urge everyone who cares about ferrets to write HSUS and tell them that any financial support they might have received from them is history. Mr. Winikoff's claim that they, HSUS, has nothing against either the ferret or ferret owners is pure garbage. How they can maintain this when their opposition threatens the lives of 500,00+ ferrets and criminilizes 250,00+ Californians is absurd. I'll be sending him a copy of my report in which mostly humane agencies reply to our ferret impact questionnaire that there is an insignificant impact from the ferret on their facilities. Write Mr. Winikoff in Sacramento and the president Paul Irwin in Washington, D.C. Commission President, Frank Boren said that Dad's dissection of the DHS report was thorough and professional. Vicepresident, Doug McGeoghegan said that the information we presented was compelling. Commissioner Theriot maintained that they could not simply go on to item three based on the evidence they heard so, after 3 hours of testimony and questions back and forth, while everyone was literally on pins and needles, the commission voted 3-2 to do a public notice and comment on this statute. This is the best we could have hoped for, except, of course, a 5-0 vote. Any time the commission changes a statute they are required to do a public notice and comment. The commission and department maintain they must do an environmental impact study (EIS) and the deputy director of DFG told me that this could take several months due to lack of personnel and funding. I asked that he suspend enforcement of the ferret ban and allocate enforcement money to this EIS instead. It was, of course only a rhetorical question on my part. I did, however, mention to the interim director of the Department of Fish and Game, Chuck Raysbrook, that when New Hampshire DFG looked at this issue they did an EIS that literally cost the equivalent 50) 32 cent stamps when they wrote all 50 states asking if ferrets were legal and what impact they had on wildlife, agriculture and public health. He asked to see the study and I will be forwarding it on to him. I can't believe that this state needs to spend any money literally repeating history by examining the same issue that Bill Phillips first looked into in 1987 and 1989, that was later examined by the New Hampshire Department of Fisheries in 1991, and was looked into once again by the Office of Technology Assessment Report, published in 1993, all with the same conclusion: FERRETS ARE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND HAVE NO IMPACT ON WILDLIFE OR AGRICULTURE, AND AN INSIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON PEOPLE COMPARED TO OTHER COMPANION ANIMALS ESPECIALLY DOGS! Anyway, after the hearing, the same participants met for lunch to determine the next step for our side, and to take a moment to smile and reflect on a small but significant victory for the truth where ferrets are concerned. Though all of us know that there is a lot more work to do, and that legalization is still probably a year away, the mood was definitely one of celebration. Dad and I went so far as to actually have a beer. Matt said that our presentation was the most professional he had ever seen and Dick Schumacher kindly praised the of organization of the testimony of all of our participants. I especially want to thank the all of the folks that took the time to prepare so well for this event: Floyd Carley, Dick Schumacher, Ed Hamilton, Bill Phillips and Barry and Janet Weber, and, a special thank you to Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith for taking so much time from his very busy schedule to give his terrific testimony about an issue that obviously deeply concerns him. His appearance was one of the keys to our success and I urge all of you reading this to write him and thank him. I will be in Sacramento for more meetings with the key players in this effort to bring California into line with the rest of the nation and the world, so for the latest on all of this, keep up your subscription to Ferret Focus! Jeanne Carley Legislative Director, CDFA P.S. Thanks also to all of you who called the night before to wish me a good night sleep and success at the hearing. I did not sleep well then but do sleep a little better now. [Posted in FML issue 1368]