I apologize in advance for any duplicate postings to anyone. Attention Ferret Community Nation/World Wide Pat, you have my deepest sympathy and condolences. I cannot begin to imagine how angry, betrayed and hurt you feel. Please know that my prayers as well as many others go out to you and Rocky both. Please fully read all of this before doing anything about the tragedy in California regarding Rocky. No one is more angry, furious, upset, and just plain mad about this than I am (well may Pat Wright and his SO). In my personal opinion what was done was WRONG. There is no justification in my book for the actions of both the Dept. of Health in CA or the Dept. of Fish and Game in this mess. Poor Rocky just didn't have enough money to buy the system off. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *H O W E V E R * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This is where is gets sticky. We have in the past (I include all of the ferret community in the we) reacted in a very HOSTILE manner towards negative occurrences where ferrets are concerned. Michigan felt first hand what it was like and so have many of the CA legislators. And with the correct information and hard work on the part of many of the Ferret Community we got the HSUS to change its long standing policy when dealing with ferret bites. I've said it before and I feel I must again, No One in their right mind takes on the ferret community unless they want them on their side. If we are against something or feel it needs to be changed we are a very powerful nationwide grassroots organization. There in lies the problem. What works in favor for the rest of the states seems to work against in CA. Let me site an example. During the recent AB363 hearings and meetings, Assemblyman Dick Floyd was heard saying something very negative about ferrets in general. Got my dander up too, and not just a little. Since the internet allows us easy communication nationwide, everyone who is on top of ferrets issues anywhere heard about it. And apparently, the majority responded by sending Assemblyman Floyd 'hate' mail. Not letters politely stating where he was wrong, asking him to re-examine the issue, or giving him the correct facts, those are not what I would call 'hate' mail. But letters calling him names, harassing his office and fax machine with nasty messages. THESE HURT the CA LEGALIZATION EFFORT IMMENSELY. You say "How". Valid question. Upon investigation, I have found out that Assemblyman Floyd is just one of those people that likes to be contrary. He appears to be the kind of person who if you said you were a sheriff and wanted to bring this law into effect to help people, he might respond with something like "You were a security guard at a 7-11 and your mother wears combat boots too". See what I mean about what type of person he is. He ALWAYS (from what I have been able to determine) goes against the grain. Likes to see feathers ruffled I guess. Some people are like that. . RESULT: Not only is Assemblyman Floyd against ferrets now, he is AGAINST ANYTHING our bill's author brings up. Which means if our author has a bill pending for anything (tax cuts, aids help, welfare, anything) Assemblyman Floyd uses his position to make sure this doesn't happen. Legislators can and do do this. Look what Willie Brown did to us in '94. He single handedly killed our bill, only because he didn't like the guy who wrote it. This in turn has our author probably questioning why he ever got involved in the ferret issue to begin with. It's got the potential to cause him some major harm, the good guy, and in turn the legalization issue in this way. We've got to use our heads and remain cool in this crisis. We can respond with name callings and harassing Gov. Wilson's office as well as others or we can choose to use this as a tool to aid the legalization efforts. We can use it to prove how many of us there are out there that know the facts. Relate the facts, the new Compendium study, and correct information in a polite manner to these individuals. THANK those that have worked for us in the past and acknowledge their help. Tell the Assemblyperson how much you appreciate him/her standing in our corner. DON'T get nasty, spiteful, or downright, vindictive in your letters/calls/faxes to those who do not support legalization. Make sure they have the correct and accurate information and let them decide based on that. Not all of them are going to decide in our favor. But some do and as each one falls it's another step on the road we've all been travelling so long here. I've been told that the meeting with F&G, and CA Dept of Health, and the Senators along with Jeanne Carley went extremely well this week. And the overall effort is once again making some positive progress. DON'T lets cut off our noses with this tragic incident. I am begging for cool heads, clear thinking, and positive work for the legalization efforts in CA. Marie Davis [Posted in FML issue 2183]