Pat Wright, owner and organizer of LegalizeFerrets.org

Pat Wright, owner and organizer of LegalizeFerrets.org

October 27th, 2010

News from LegalizeFerrets.org
For Immediate Release

Governor Calls for Environmental Impact Report Prior to Legalizing Ferrets
Fish and Game Commission Ignores Our Request to Get Started After Preliminary Report Submitted

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has answered the first batch of letters from a letter writing and petition campaign organized by LegalizeFerrets.org with his standard answer:

“So far, no one has completed a study that proves that these little animals would be good, safe pets, and the California Environmental Quality Act requires that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) be conducted first. An EIR evaluates the proposed project's impact on the environment. Until an EIR is conducted on the effects that ferrets have on the environment, it would be inappropriate to legalize ferrets as pets here in California.”

LegalizeFerrets.org has on two occasions Express Mailed a copy of our pre-Environmental Impact Report to Governor Schwarzenegger, posted on line at http://ferretsanon.com/EIR/Final_Report.pdf. His staff has been unable to confirm delivery even though we have a proof of delivery.

Even more frustrating is the position of the California Fish and Game Commission where acting Director Jon Fischer promptly labeled the report “missing the mark” and that it lacked scoping. Scoping is not included in the initial report.

We commissioned the “Initial Study” and are now asking the California Fish and Game Commission to file the “Notice of Preparation.” After more than two weeks we have not received an answer and we are consulting with an attorney.

Furthermore – from the Fish and Game Commission Meeting:

April 6, 2000. The California Fish and Game Commission, As explained at the meeting, a regulatory action by the Commission is considered a project under the California Environmental Quality Act, which requires the preparation of an environmental document. Therefore, at the conclusion of the public testimony, the Commission directed the Californians for Ferret Legalization, as project proponents, to fund the preparation of the environmental document to assess the potential impact to the environment of this proposed action. The Commission would not be in a position to again consider this matter until such environmental document were prepared.

We try to comply with their demands and as we near them they ignore us. Ferrets are legal in 48 states; no other state has required any environmental studies. We are working to comply but they have so far closed the doors on conducting an EIR.

For more information please contact Pat Wright at 619-303-0645 or cell 619-757-7426

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Time to be Tough

A lot of good things have happened. The LegalizeFerrets Revival was a great success. The video is out. Most of our bills are paid.



Still damn mad that no one in our state government has given me a call back, much less a answer. How is it we can produce our current environmental study, ask how to start the EIR process and be rejected with four words "it misses the mark" by Fish and Game Acting Director Jon Fischer?

Not feeling proud to be a Californian - but because the truth is with us - we are going to win this one.

Here is our video - please pass it around.

Anyone Who Thinks We Live in a Free Country Hasn't Dealt With California Fish and Game

It's been two days since Jon Fischer, acting director of the California Fish and Game Commission dismissed the Sacramento State University report on ferrets as "missing the mark."

Several calls to Dale Steele at the Department of Fish and Game have not been returned. I'll try calling him from a different phone today in case he has flagged my cell phone.

To me it is simply inconceivable they would be allowed to block an effort without due process. It does sicken me to hear people say "we live in the greatest nation on earth..." because if you keep saying that you can't question it.

A free country would respect your rights. If something is not right there would be a way to challenge it.

If this were going on just awhile I'd be more patient, but 20+ years trying to legalize ferrets. Truly ridiculous. Good thing Fausto loves me so much. Wish I could take him outside.

Sick Feeling and the lack of Due Process

I have had a sick feeling since speaking to Jon Fischer from the Department of Fish and Game. I didn't realize until later that he is the acting director of the Fish and Game Commission.

Mr. Fischer dismissed our extensive survey, our Pre-EIR document as "missing the mark."

Not surprising, anything report that doesn't mention ferrets killing human babies and "free roaming" ferrets attacking endangered species is not going to fly with the Fish and Game Commission.

What really bothers me is lack of due process. Due process is so fundamental to a people's freedom. With three words Mr. Fischer is trying to deny us our due process.

Well, that isn't going to fly.

But I really wish I lived in a state where the fight for our rights, going on 25 years and still unsucessful, didn't consume so much time and money.

Not only are we financially poorer, we're less free. This has got to end - and it's going to end. I just wish it were sooner rather than later.

It is past time ferrets were legal in California!

Legalizing pet ferrets affects hundreds of thousands of Californians, even though many citizens may be unfamiliar with the State’s 77-year-old ferret ban. The California Veterinary Medical Association has long agreed that pet ferrets should be legal. State legislators agreed six years ago. But the Governor blocked ferret legalization, when he vetoed the Ferret Amnesty Bill (9/30/2004). Schwarzenegger said: “I love ferrets. I co-starred with a ferret in Kindergarten Cop. However, this bill is too bureaucratic and it legalizes ferrets prior to conducting an environmental impact report.”

The requested Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is nearly complete, and the evidence clear. Leading SSU researcher, G. O. Graening PhD, reports: “None of the questionnaires, [which were sent to] every wildlife agency, health department, and agricultural department in the 50 US states and Canadian Provinces, received to date have documented the establishment of any feral breeding populations, or negative interactions with wildlife, or significant impacts on human health or safety.”

The political climate surrounding ferret legalization puts the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) at center stage. The DFG has gone to great lengths to resist ferret legalization, by identifying domestic ferrets as “wild animals.” That’s like saying your Yorkie dog is dangerous because his origins trace back to the wolf family.

The DFG has gone so far as to invent a subgroup of ferrets that do not even exist, which they call: “Free-roaming domestic ferrets.” According to the DFG, these “free-roaming domestic ferrets” are dangerous to poultry and infants . However, no “free-ranging domestic ferrets” have ever been documented, as confirmed by SSU’s current findings. This false logic has been perpetuated by the DFG since 1933.

Let’s face facts too: Ferrets live in the homes of over 100,000 Californians. California’s vets are allowed by law to treat pet ferrets. However, the climate of illegality undermines access to proper care.

Castro Valley Vet Rene' C. Gandolfi said: “I have been treating ferrets here in California for over twenty years. In that time I’ve seen all sorts of problems resulting from the ban on ownership.” Ferret owners delay treatment or must travel vast distances to get veterinary help, according to Gandolfi. “I’ve seen pet owners traveling hundreds of miles to find a veterinarian who was willing to see them. In a couple of severe emergency cases , ferret owners had to make hour long trips to see us because they couldn’t be seen at a vet closer to home. That’s like making a human drive to Sacramento to get to the ER after having a heart attack in San Francisco.”
Gandolfi explains why the CVMA backs ferret legalization: “It is bad medicine and bad public health policy to have a pet species that isn’t receiving regular and competent veterinary care.”
Gandolfi dismissed suggestions that ferrets are dangerous to humans: “For over two decades we have been providing veterinary medical and surgical services for ferret owners. I have yet to meet a ferret that I felt posed a significant danger to any humans who might handle it. I have often told my staff that I am more concerned about being bitten by a hamster than by a ferret.” Gandolfi explained that the dangers he sees are not due to ferrets, but to the fearful and unsafe legal climate. Ferret owners are “constantly worried that their cherished companion will be confiscated.”

Inadequate access to medical care stands at odds with the reality of widespread ferret ownership in California. A leading pet industry trade group confirms that 27% of the nation’s ferret supplies are purchased in California.

Owning ferrets is legal in 48 other states. Veterinarians, scientists, elected officials and pet owners have effectively advocated for legalizing ferret ownership. The Governor’s questions have been answered by the EIR. Encourage the Governor and your representatives to support the Ferret Amnesty Bill, and enable sound scientific reason to trump politics once and for all in the ferret debate. Ferret owners have waited long enough: its past time to overturn the 1933 ferret ban.

It is past time ferrets were legal in California!