Hello everyone, I just heard from Jan's office and was told that AB 363 will be heard tomorrow! Anyone interested should go to the third floor of the old capitol building, (Routunda) and go to the Gallery (you'll have to ask as I don't know). I was told that cameras are not allowed in the Gallery, so it's best to leave them in the car-- they'll be taken from you and one of Jan's constituents had his camera broken, so they recommend not bringing one in. As to the timing, we don't know. Some of us are planning to arrive 9:00 (anyone travelling with me should meet me at 6:30 at my house) but I can't stay 'till midnight, only about 3:00-3:30 P.M. The bill could be heard anytime so we might see it we might not. I hope you'll come anyway and see how this process works, assuming it does work. On another note, the California Research Bureau (Government Research Agency) called me quite a while ago to ask for information on the ferret issue. Researcher Kenneth Umbach told me that he had received such contradictory information from DFG and ferret enthusiasts that when he was asked by "someone" to look into the issue he decided to look for third party information. I sent him all of our documents and he called various states, read several research papers, spoke by telephone with ferret owners, and cruised the internet. When our author's office called to say they got a copy of the report my first reaction was the usual-- it's going to be biased against the issue, the truth etc. since this is just another arm of the government. Well, not so. The report is very interesting and surprisingly unbiased. It presents DFG views, our views and then concludes with an evidence and discussion of each based on third party documents. It is certainly less acerbic and witty than the PRI report, but does present the ferret as less of a threat to people and wildlife than other domesticated animals. "Conclusion It appears improbable that domestic ferrets could establish feral colonies in California, given the risks of ferrets themselves being prey." Overall it's a good report and I think this is the agency to conduct a study should there be one on ferrets. The only problem I have with the report is the suggestion that one option for a study would involve releasing ferrets into the wild to see how they do. Before you get crazy like I did, it's only presented as one option (I'm sure this came from DFG). "Alternatively, and easier to accomplish, the Legislature could commission an extensive and impartial survey of states in which possession of ferrets is legal, conducted by an agency or organizaion, such as the California Research Bureau, that is not a party to the dispute over legalization, to determine what impacts have been observed." Californians for Ferret Legalization has already advised Jan that we will use all of our resources to fight an attempt to condemn ferrets to certain death by releasing them into the wild. This inane idea came up several years ago and at the time I spoke with the president of the State Humane Board and Virginia Handley of Fund for Animals. I believe we will have their support to block any such inhumane scenario. I will do everything in my power to make sure that kind of institutionalized abuse does not happen. Anyway, I hope many of you can come to the Capitol tomorrow and if you do, say hello to your own legislators office (including your State Senator). 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 1957]