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Trouble Reading this email? - Read it online Vol 3 No 15 • April 13, 2008
The Orange County Pet Expo has been going on this weekend and we’ve added 62 new subscribers from Friday and Saturday. We expect a boat load more from people who sign up today – but they won’t be receiving this newsletter, they’ll have to wait until next week.
The OC Pet Expo is a terrific event for pet lovers and my appreciation to everyone who helped with our booth. We’ve also received a few dozen signs up from articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times so I wanted to give a little background.
LegalizeFerrets.org is part of the San Diego Ferrets Anonymous Chapter. In 2005 we became concerned about the lack of planning and progress for ferret legalization and decided to ponder the possibility of a ballot initiative. Since it was such a large undertaking we decided not to pursue the dream unless 3000 people would commit by paying $10 and agreeing to collect 100 signatures when the time came.
The dream of a ballot initiative was ended after we paid $6000 for a Field Research survey that showed us only 38% of Californians would vote to legalize ferrets. (That poll is about a year old here are the results). There was no way we could overcome any misconceptions on our budget.
As our ranks kept growing, we pondered what to do next until we received an offer to fund an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Governor Schwarzenegger called for an EIR when he vetoed a ferret amnesty bill in 2004 (not 2006 as erroneously reported in the LA Times). Doing research on an EIR we were surprised to find it cheaper than we thought (original costs were thought to be $250,000) because we don’t have to worry about traffic or noise issues (unless the Department of Fish and Game reports ferrets spotted driving cars – stranger things have happened in this battle). Finally, after many years and many failures there is a sense we are on the right track. We will have the scientific documentation and the grassroots organization to get this issue moving.
The 3000 Club is important because it is a way of measuring the support we receive to legalize ferrets. Please check the upper left hand corner and you see how many members we have and the most recent ten members. If you aren’t a member, please consider joining.
Los Angeles Times Blog Features Ferrets Issue
I received a newspaper clipping from a member in Santa Monica (one of our few members who doesn’t have email) with an LA Times Blog on the ferret issue. This explains the rash of sign ups on the LegalizeFerrets.org website. Reading the issue on line I was a bit upset. The blog (here is the link - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2008/04/perennial-ferre.html) has a prominent link to Jeanne Carley’s website http://www.ferretnews.org/. When people open the link they are not going to learn about ferret legalization efforts, they are going to see a personal attack on me. I’m a bit more upset at the LA Times for their lazy journalism, not only did they get an important fact wrong they lead their readers to an irrelevant website. I've personally removed all mention of Jeanne from my blogs, and am hopeful of seeing nothing but positives in the very near future.
I’ve also been told many times, and I agree, people who are interested in ferret legalization are not interested in personality disputes which make this a bit of a mine field for me, I really can’t respond to Jeanne’s negative comments.
President's Report
Working the Orange County Pet Expo at the Ferrets Anonymous tables for the Glendora and San Diego Chapters over the past three days, I have noticed that many people's reaction to the LegalizeFerrets.org table as well as the Ferrets Anonymous booth have the same response to the issue of ferrets being illegal to possess in the state of California. Last year and this year alike, I have heard these responses from people visiting the tables: Top Three Questions Asked at the OC Pet Expo: "Ferrets are illegal in California? I used to have ferrets in (pick a state) - what a joke!" "They're still illegal huh? I thought they were made legal a few years ago..." "What's a ferret?" Is it a good thing that there are ferret information tables at this event? -Absolutely! -But what else does this tell us? To me, it screams that our reach has been far too narrow. We must expand our reach to get the attention of more people and let them know that domestic ferrets aren't disgusting, smelly creatures that kill ground birds and reproduce in the wild - forming colonies. In fact, the opposite of all of these points is true. In no state in this country, or anywhere else in the world has a pet ferret or ferrets gotten loose from their comfortable homes and formed colonies. Its just not something that can happen. The sooner that all Californians are informed, the better off we'll all be for being able to get these furkids legalized in California. Contact your local pet stores, grocery stores, libraries, museums, malls and anywhere else that has a considerable amount of foot traffic. Set up an information table, show off photos of ferrets and talk to passersby about domestic ferrets being the wonderful housepets that they truly are. The relationships you form with stores, libraries, museums, etc. - are likely to become lasting friendships with even more people who may not know that their rights as California residents are being trampled upon. Californians typically HATE being told that they cannot do a certain thing, and usually rise up in opposition. Remember the protests of the 60s? -How will they ever know if you don't tell them?  Work with your local ferret club. If you don't have a local ferret club, form one! - Don't wait for one to come to you! You can seek guidance on how to grow your group and work with other groups by contacting Ferrets Anonymous, or just emailing me for more information. We have every handout or flyer that needs to be printed and passed along to others available by request, and soon will have all of this available for download anytime you need it! YOU can make a difference - county by county, store by store, person by person. Each person that you don't share your knowledge with, is one person you may never have the opportunity to reach out to again. -Just think back to the first person who told you about ferrets and got you fired up... -Now look at the passion you have for domestic ferrets... -And to think that it all started with someone, who shared their experiences with you, or allowed you to interact with a ferret for the first time.
Lance M. Anyone For the Castroville Artichoke Festival?
Hi everyone, Some may have already received this mail, if you did , I'm sorry for the double message. I thought It would be nice to have an informational booth (about ferrets) at the festival. The cost is $50(non-profit) for a 10x10 booth. The dates are May 17-May 18 in Castroville, Ca I have had 2-3 people say that they would help me man a booth but it will take more 3-4 people to do the job. I figure we can get the information to pass out from Pat Wright and the new FA president Lance M. Possibly the Sacramento and N. Bay area groups have literature they can send also. Deadline for applying is May 1, 2008
What I'm asking is, would some of you be willing to help man a booth for a few hours a day. Last year attendance was around 20,000, This year the festival committee expects more because the Band War and The Marshall Tucker Band is being featured. My email is fertwrangler2@hotmail.com or sped103@sbcglobal.net Please help get information out to the general public. D If you think we should have a table and would like to donate, please click here and put in the comment section "for the Artichoke Festival."
Final Thoughts
There aren't any ferret photos in this week's CLIFFNotes! I especially want everyone who signed up to know that you've joined a completely normal group of people. No strange people here. If you have photos or videos of your ferrets that you'd like to share, send them in!
About the money situation. We spent about $700 for our booth at the OC Pet Expo, so our bank account is about zero. This would be an excellent time to make a donation. We are trying to get more promotional material out with the theme "Ferrets Are More Fun." The artwork isn't quite done - but I would like to get these products available for sale.
If you haven't made a donation for a while - please do so. Every little bit helps - please use this link.
We take advertisements - $10 for a month. Ads should be 200 pixels wide. Other size ads can be accommodated, please email for details.
Thank you!
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