Hello FMLers, For the CA person wishing to fly their ferrets out of state, please exercise caution. I do ferret rescue here and have a permit from the Department of Fish and Game. I generally fly ferrets out via cargo or dash but have, on a couple of occasions flown with them to their new homes. In every case, I have been required to show a copy of my permit. In at least one case, though I was told I could have the ferret in the cabin by the young man taking my reservation. However, upon checking in at the San Jose airport, I was told that ferrets were illegal in CA (REALLY??) and that I'd have to ship the animal cargo which meant I missed the flight. (A very angry call to our nice DFG Captain of this region resulted in almost VIP treatment for me and the ferret on the next flight-- I did threaten to quit ferret rescue!) Anyway, the point is, that the reservation folks may say one thing and another could very well happen at the airport. You may be asked to show a permit depending upon the airlines. I just want to caution you-- there may be no problem at all since the ferrets are leaving the State but I've had problems even in those cases where I'm shipping a ferret out. To Jason looking to legalize ferrets in Minneapolis, I have copies of documents proving the ferret's status as domesticated. If you let send me a self-addressed stamped envelop (3.00 postage) I'll send them your way. I'll be at the AFA show in Maryland and will have, besides The Ferret Company's products (calendars, mugs, T's & cards), about 200 copies of letters urging ferret fans to write to the Sierra Club/Audubon Society. If you're going to the show, please stop by and pick one up. You can photocopy it and pass it along to your friends and relatives. Their position affects you because you and your pet are not welcome in CA even though owners of other domesticated pets that impact the environment are. Besides seriously hurting our efforts to legalize ferrets in California, opposition to ferret ownership by these organizations is a double standard that should not be tolerated. Finally, I've found that I have so little free time that I've decided to unsubscribe from the FML for now. I'll still post important legalization information to the list because I know that there are many people who find the information important and useful and act on it. I know that our webmaster and others will forward posts regarding CA to me and anyone interested in what is currently happening in California should bookmark the Californians for Ferret Legalization website at http://www.ferretnews.org. It is the most up to date and accurate website on the ferret legalization efforts here. You can also e- mail me directly at [log in to unmask], or [log in to unmask], if you have any questions or want to help out. Besides the continuing legalization effort, I am very interested spending more time on our new 501(c)3 IRS tax-exempt Corporation, The Ferret Education Foundation. There is a real need to help ferret shelters and humane societies provide educational materials for prospective ferret owners and the general public. As long as there is a growing demand for ferrets, and part of that demand is based upon ignorance, ferrets will go from those pet stores and breeders who do not take the time to adequately screen or inform prospective ferret owners, into the hands of people unprepared to meet the animal's needs for its lifetime. And from there, they will continue to go to shelters in ever increasing numbers. We believe that the most important way we can help is to produce informative flyers or booklets describing the true nature and special needs of ferrets with an eye towards helping prospective ferret owners make an informed decision about ferret ownership and all of the responsibility it entails. We hope to stop the impulse buy, to give people the information necessary to carefully evaluate whether a ferret is the right pet for them and their family, and to help ensure that the match is a permanent one. Certainly there are many responsible stores and breeders providing good information to irresponsible invividuals who simply should not own ferrets but who do so anyway. Hopefully they are a smaller percentage than those who simply need more information before making their decision and can use the information we plan on making available. And thank you to the ACME Ferret Company for their generous donation of 10% of the proceeds from the sale of the beautiful Maltese penny necklaces to the Ferret Education Foundation. Since money from the sale funds the very ferret-informative League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts website, donating 10% of the proceeds to a second ferret charity is extremely generous. We hope to be able to match our $50,000 current endowment in the near future so we can begin printing and distributing our educational materials. Jeanne Carley Californians for Ferret Legalization (CFL) 410 Mountain Home Road Woodside, CA 94062 (415) 851-3750 <[log in to unmask]> http://www.ferretnews.org-- CFL Website CALIFORNIANS, YOU CAN FIND OUT YOUR STATE SENATOR BY VISITING THIS SITE!! CALL AND WRITE YOUR SENATOR AND GOV. WILSON--DON'T LET OUR BILL DIE! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For pure ferret fun, check out http://www.ferretcalendar.com [Posted in FML issue 2151]