| Vol 4 • No 36 |
September 6th, 2009 |
The Ten Most Recent Members of the 3000 Club - Thank you! | ||
 793. ramsfan, Modesto CA792. ferretsaver101, Northridge CA 791. etacarinae, Sacramento CA 790. rdw2000, Citrus Heights CA 789. ReneN, Encinitas CA |
788. Whiplash, Palm Springs CA 787. Firestarter, Huntington Beach CA 786. mdchristenham, bellevue NE 785. Mojito, Temecula CA 784. KajiKasai, Rocklin CA | |
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The Sad Story of Bosco Lee -
We Still Need Your Help I received a call Friday morning from Diann V. Her sister Shelly had her ferret Bosco at the Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital in San Diego's Mission Valley. Good ol Dr. Jenkins who we've kept busy with rescue work the past month was on the case.  Bosco had an internal blockage and they needed a $600 deposit to do the surgery. Bosco was two years old and was expected tov survive the surgery. Shelly had recently lost her husband and her cat. I told the vet's office we'd pass the hat, but I had to promise a $600 check by Wednesday for them to do the surgery. The surgery supposedly went well but Bosco passed away Friday night. Veterinary service does not come with a guarantee. We still need make the payment, so I am asking for help with this one. Please send $5 or $10 or whatever you feel you can to the Bosco fund. Thank you.
More on the Mountain Dew Commercial
 Just wanted to weigh in on the Mountain Dew commercial. Speaking as someone who spent most of her career in advertising (including a few years for Pepsi/Mt Dew), in my opinion, they're playing this for laughs by placing a chainsaw in the hands (paws) of an extremely docile creature. This spot would not have been funny if it were a mountain lion or grizzly bear attacking those people. But a sweet little creature like a ferret, with hockey mask and chainsaw, is ludicrous, and therefore comical. They would have achieved the same effect if they had chosen a hamster or guinea pig. The joke is in the fact the "evil" creature is actually one of the least intimating animals on earth. Kathy A Letter to Ferret.com My husband and I are longtime, loyal customers and parents to 3 great ferrets. We are trying to support the efforts of LegalizeFerrets.org here in California and we understand you haven't replied to the letter you received from them about the EIR they have begun and need financial support to finish it. Please take the time to reply to their needs as they spearhead this much needed reform on ferret legalization here in California. There are choices in every area that can be made as consumers. We make ours by buying from Ferret,com so won't you please respond ASAP? The Legalize Ferrets folks send out weekly updates to all their members so we'll be looking for your reply! Thanks for your time. Sincerely, Jillian & James B. Thanks J & J - we still haven't heard back from them.    Our vet page has been updated and modified for easier searches.
==Advertise in CLIFFNotes - the above ads are $100 a year, $50 for once a month for the year or $10 for a month. They help pay the bills and we appreciate our advertisers!
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Marshall Pet Products Comes Through Marshall Pet Products told us they will pay $1,600 per quarter towards the cost of the Environmental Impact Report. A smart move on their part as it means we have to raise about 50% of the cost each quarter. Our first quarterly bill is due shortly, so don't be surprised to get a frantic "help us raise $1,600 any week now.' Drs Foster and Smith and ZuPreme informed us they were not going to help with the cost of the EIR. Performance Foods, makers to Totally Ferret did not respond but we learned they were insulted by our "extortion" remark in last week's issue, (click here to read). The comment was meant more tougue-in-cheek than anything else, and since it seemed to work - we were able to use it in our favor. To anyone who may have been offended, this was not the goal. This caused some hard feelings on Joe Ferret's Facebook page as some people pledged not to buy from Drs Foster and Smith or ZuPreme and others sent emails asking them to reconsider. Dustin S. seemed to have put it best with this post; Officially you shouldn't take a stance on what consumers do. As consumers we have a responsibility to support the companies that have OUR best interest at heart. Besides I'm of the opinion that California is a lucrative state. If a company that sells ferret supplies doesn't support the EIR, then they don't need my money. They obviously have enough or they would support a cause that will help their bottom line. It's bad business and I can't condone that. But please remember that both ZuPreme and Drs Foster and Smith have contributed prizes to past Legalize Ferrets events. Additionally, companies like Performance Foods, (Totally Ferret) contributes thousands of pounds of food to shelters every year that does more than most could to keep ferrets fed and healthy. Through non-profit groups like SOS (Support our Shelters) Performance Foods is responsible for keeping ferrets well everywhere, not just here in California. And what about those companies who have yet to answer our letter? If you order from these companies - please ask them to respond.
So the word from here - Marshall Pet Products is making the EIR possible. Ferret Depot has lent their moral support. A very big thank you to both these companies and we hope more come on board. I am not asking for any boycotts, the "extortion" remark was not serious. But we shall forever remember those companies who worked with us to overturn this ridiculous ban on ferrets.  David Guthartz to be on
Joey Reynolds ShowRemember David Guthartz? The New York ferret lover who Mayor Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told to get a life (read article here). And showed the presidential candidate to be at least a little bit off kilter and not presidential timber. He'll be on the Joey Reynolds radio show on September 14th 10pm Pacific Time. Here's the website - http://www.wor710.com/pages/3600691%20notice the "Listen Live" link in the upper right.  New San Diego Ferrets Anonymous Meet Up Group FormsIf you love Ferrets, and want to meet like minded people, learn about the animal, or help fight for legalization, this is the group for you.
This group was started to bring together ferret loving people and their critters, for fun and friendship. Ferrets are unique, curious, hilarious, little creatures, and they attract a certain type of person- typically fun loving, creative individuals, with a little bit of rebel thrown in. Because of the states current ban on ferrets, we will also address the topic of legalization, even though it is not our main focus. The fight for legalization is being fought by several groups here in CA (SD Ferrets Anonymous is our local group), lets help them win! After all, we can't have public meet-ups with fuzzies while they are illegal.
In Conclusion
 Next week the calendar goes on pre-sale! We had to change the size which caused other changes, but it will be unveiled.
How exciting that the EIR is getting off the ground. I can picture the newspaper article. It isn't on the front page, more like page A6. It says "Ferrets Finally Allowed As Pets in California." (and they used a picture of black footed ferrets - arghhh!).
In other words - I can see the end of the battle from here, or I have an over-active imagination.
We had an issue come up last week. One of the companies we asked help to fund the EIR gave Lance some grief. Lance doesn't always go through CLIFFNotes but I put his name on it anyway. He explained he didn't see last week's issue before it went out. I happen to know Lance is doing a ferret rescue today, but he should see this issue before we send it out at 7:30 pm at the latest. If you don't see Lance's name on this it means he's stuck god-knows-where trying to retrieve a distressed ferret.
Thank you for your support. Please don't forget to make a small contribution to Bosco's vet bill!
Pat Wright
619-303-0645
A Note from Lance M.: This past Sunday in CLIFFNotes, I believe that the wrong wording was used to try to entice certain companies into financially participating in the funding of the EIR. While I do not believe that any harm was intended, there is at least one company that took offense to the way that the request was communicated. I'm a frequent user of Performance Foods' Totally Ferret, and know firsthand how much this very small company does to help shelters and others care for ferrets across the country. Besides helping ferret shelters directly, Performance Foods also supports SOS (Support Our Shelters, http://www.supportourshelters.org/) and makes it possible for many poorer shelters to keep on providing excellent nutrition to the ferrets in their care. I have always supported Totally Ferret, and the suggestion that the company isn't doing enough to help ferrets, couldn't be further from the truth. This past weekend, I was not able to edit CLIFFNotes because I was celebrating 10 years of marriage with my beautiful wife Dawn. Because of this, I wasn't able to suggest another way to entice funding monies from various companies. I hope that in the future, it will be with more care how LegalizeFerrets.org asks, read: "begs" for support. No harm was intended, to be so close to finally making progress - I can see why a stumble could have been made. I offer my sincere apologies to the team at Performance Foods for this poor choice of wording, and do hope that no harm was done as a result of it. Lance M. President, Ferrets Anonymous 949-303-8481 Twitter: http://twitter.com/LanceM_FA Web: http//www.ferretsanonymous.org   |
