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Why Are Ferrets Illegal?
Welcome to our new readers. One question I heard repeatedly at the O.C. Pet Expo is "why are ferrets illegal?" Beats me - there is no good reason.
All mustelidae, which is the family ferrets belong to, were grouped together and outlawed in the 1930's. It would like outlawing all canines - from dogs to toy poodles.
For awhile, until 1985 the Department of Fish and Game would give permits allowing people to own neutered male ferrets. Finally they said it was just too much effort.
Ferret popularity was taking off about then, thanks in large parts to the movie, "The Beastmaster."
Efforts to legalize ferrets in the 1980's kind of backfired as the Department of Fish and Game resented being shown as ignorant. They dug in their heels and politicized the issue.
Currently we are working on an Environmental Impact Report which we hope will lead to legalization.
I was also kind of surprised at the number of people with little ferret knowledge who signed up for this newsletter. I want to stress that while ferrets make great pets for some of us, they are time-consuming, very expensive to maintain and can drive you nuts. Only the most patient people with large limits on their credit cards should have these animals. And with their short life spans (7 years) they will break your heart.
That being said, welcome to the California ferret community. We are a great and somewhat off-beat group of people. And working together we are finally going to achieve ferret legalization.
DFG Doesn't Know "Balls" About Ferrets...
Sterilization can be difficult to guarantee. For example, permits were available to allow people to keep neutered male ferrets and other exotic wildlife species in California until it was found that few government inspectors could ascertain whether an animal had been neutered and biologists found that intact males were entering the State. These violations prompted a policy change by the Fish and Game Commission and from 1986 all permits to keep neutered males were denied
(Moore and Whisson 1998).
I hope this photo doesn't bother anyone, the point is, it isn't difficult to tell an intact male ferret from a neutered male ferret. Note, the ferret's accoutrement(s)...
Express Mail?
While We're On the Absurd - Don't Mail Your Ferrets (that's the second opportunity for a bad pun - I didn't use the first, too racy!)
San Diego
Black Footed Ferret
My boyfriend and I went to the San Diego wild animal park last week and saw the black-footed ferret in the animal care center. Further inquiry revealed that age is getting to her, and they're making her comfortable to pass.While legalization has little to do with this species, i thought it would be a good idea to pass it on in case anyone wanted to see the only true wild ferret in North America.
Jana T.
Furry Vengeance
Regarding "Furry Vengeance," (see last week's CLIFFNotes) I would suggest that everyone leave a polite comment under the official trailer on You Tube stating that the film inaccurately portrays domesticated pet ferrets as being wild animals. The trailer is cute, and the ferrets ARE portrayed as "good guys," but this is as silly as trying to pass off hamsters as forest dwellers. I've already left my comment. How about a few hundred more?
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LegalizeFerrets.org at the O.C. Pet Expo
Last weekend's three ferret booths at the O.C. Pet Expo produced a lot of interest in the California ferret issue. Each year for the past several years, LegalizeFerrets.org has been participating in this event - which seems to keep growing year by year. This year's event, held April 16-18 was no different. LegalizeFerrets.org, CDFEA (California Domestic Ferret Educational Alliance) and Ferrets Anonymous all exhibited in booths in the small animal building. Foot traffic was heavy all three days, and many people were given the opportunity to become educated about the ins & outs, do's & don'ts about domestic ferrets. LegalizeFerrets.org put out a larger-than-life open letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger asking him to look to the decency within him and to legalize ferrets. The open letter had a very positive impact and people couldn't wait to sign the letter. In fact, people lined up to sign their names to the document. By the end of the event, two huge letters to the Governor were filled with signatures in every open space.
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| Our littlest petition signer! |
Must have been earlier in the day, they look so refreshed
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The CDFEA booth was well-manned. More than 1,500 education packets were distributed to people looking to learn more about domestic ferrets.
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The LegalizeFerrets.org booth, getting ready to be ransacked by show-goers looking for information.
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Further down the aisle, the San Gabriel Valley FA chapter had the biggest booth.
The LegalizeFerrets booth gave away the remaining 800 Calendars and about 1000 of our "Test Your Ferret Knowledge" quiz sheets. We signed up 115 people to receive CLIFFNotes.
Over 500 people signed a petition to Governor Schwarzenegger asking him to legalize ferrets at the LegalizeFerrets.org booth. We sent him the petitions along with an invitation to his scheduling department for the September 25th Legalize Ferrets Revival. We'll be sure to tell everyone what kind of response, if any, we get back.
Thank you everyone who worked, helped, contributed.
- A great success this year!
Who Will Make Our Video?
click on each video photo for a sample of their work
In conjunction with the September 25th Legalize Ferrets Revival set for Concord, CA - we are going to have a professional video made. 18 bids were received and we have narrowed it down to these three: (My sincere thanks to Aaron S. for helping me go through all the material!) Please look them over and let me know who you think we should award the project to.
Angelo Taylor
 I was thinking of something along the lines of this video. Snakebytes did a killer job raising awareness of the snake ban. click here (warning to snake-phobes - I mean you Alice K!)
I can easily do this kind of persuasive film-making.
David Floeter
 Try to shoot the B-Roll* in a way to give a unique or unusual edge to the whole piece such as Ferrets are perceived as unusual pets.
Shoot it to try and have a bit of Ferret POV Type Visuals and possibly even some camera movement to try and mimic how a Ferret moves, while
1) Set up a Shot as if the Owner is being interviewed. Then cut to the Owner as they finish speaking on the subject of "whatever". 2) Set up a few other Moving Ferret POV showing Human activity as the Ferret goes about its day.
3)More B-Roll of Ferrets playing together, w/toys and w/owners.
These things could help supply a Visual Ferret-Type personality for the Audience to connect with on a compassion/empathy level.
Another thing is to come up with a list of most important points to cover, some of which could be culled form the website. This material is where you'll derive the script/questions to ask. I'm sure each interview might have a good humorous story to share and you might be able to throw in a one or two. You need to keep the audience entertained while informing and exciting them, plus if you can make them laugh, all the better.
*B-roll, B roll, or Broll is supplemental or alternate footage intercut with the main shot in an interview or documentary
Todd Dayton
 I think a basic game plan would be to come to the event you have planned. I'd probably ask you for a list of folks you'd like me to talk to, either because they're passionate about ferrets, well-spoken, funny, or any or all of the above. Then I'd go around and just shoot a dozen or so other interviews with other people, also getting their contact information so I could follow up by phone/email. I would also try to gather some basic shots of the gatherings, filming any presentations or speakers that might be useful. Within a few days, I'd also go visit some of the Bay Area people who seemed the most compelling, to see them in their home environment with their ferrets. I'd shoot some of that material to act as the real-life "glue" that would hold the video together. I'm thinking the finished video should be about 10 minutes long.I was trying to think of some funny way to start the video, before getting into the more serious, pro-legalize material. Perhaps a take-off on that old adage about people looking like their dogs, maybe I'd have someone say, "You know, people say that if you have a ferret long enough, you start to look alike." Then we'd show some side-by-side photos of owner and ferret for a laugh or two. But let me know if you'd rather keep things a tad more on the serious side. I'll keep thinking about some interesting ways to start this off.
We have budgeted $2500 to produce the video. I hope it will bring excitement to our cause and increase education. Details about the Sept 25th event will be forth coming - don't you dare miss it!
Save the date - September 25th in Concord
We are having a Legalize Ferrets Revival in the Bay Area city of Concord on Saturday from noon to 8 pm. By then our Environmental Impact Report should be officially filed and the California ferret community should be in high spirits.
As mentioned above, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited. A registered letter along with the 500 or so signatures went to his official scheduling department. Will he continue to ignore us?
Republican candidate Meg Whitman should get an award for easiest-to-use website. An invitation was submitted and acknowledged.
I still need to reach Democratic candidate Jerry Brown.
I don't expect any big name politicians to attend - but wouldn't it be nice?
I do expect the largest ferret event we've ever had, there is room for 150. New speakers are expected and the documentary (see above again) will be filming. You could be interviewed for posterity.
We are in the process of inviting speakers. It must be a Northern California tradition of not returning phone calls - but we'll be persistant and this will be the livliest and largest ferret event we've had in California. If you have any ideas what you'd like to see, please let me know.
Save Another Date!
CDFEA Ferret Fun Ride is coming up September 18, 2010.
Registration begins at 9:30 am at Tom’s Farms Restaurant, 23900 Temescal Canyon Rd., Corona, CA.
Kickstands up at 11:00 am! Registration Fee $25.00 per rider/$10.00 per passenger – lunch included.
The ride will end at Cook’s Corner in Trabuco Canyon.
Come join us for a fun ride and help CDFEA’s animal welfare and education efforts.
Donations are tax deductible.
Poker Run • Raffle • See you there!
Sad News on Rose the Ferret
Rose was mentioned last week. She was owned by Nadine for one week then crashed from infections and neglect from the previous owner.
Nadine is having a terrible time adjusting to the loss and the vet bill was over $800. CLIFFNotes readers sent in about $325 to help with the cost.
Most people reading this understand the sense of loss from a newby ferret owner and we send our sympathies to Nadine. It does get better.
In Conclusion -
Sure has been a lot going on. Hiring a video crew, Legalize Ferrets Revival, CLIFFNotes readership nearing the 5,000 mark (not bad!), our Environmental Impact Report, another calendar shoot - and more.
How can you help? If you're not a member of the 3000 Club - please join. Here's why.
Also Wysong Pet Foods give us a nice slice of all business that is generated off these emails and our websites. My dogs, cat and ferrets absolutely love Wysong. We tried the Dreamtreats and it went over like - well just think of your favorite candy but Dreamtreats are good for their teeth!
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| Use this coupon to save 10% | Our cat Martini eats the Nurture and loves it. The ferrets get a bowl of Ferret Archetypal-2 every morning and relish it.
Thank you so much for your support!
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