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I want to thank you for the work you do to hopefully get our fuzzies one day legal in California. I know that my 4 fuzzies appreciate the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, so on behalf of Bandit, Smokey, Darcy and Wendy we thank you.
I read every issue of Cliff Notes I get, and am just amazed on how misinformed people are regarding ferrets. I have owned ferrets off and on for the better part of 20 + years, and have never had, nor met anyone who had a bad experience with them. I just think is shame the way I have to hide my four friends from prying eyes in fear that someone may report me and haul my fuzzies away. I am fortunate in a way, as I don’t worry as much as most people, due to the fact that I am a Peace Officer here in California.
Again my thanks are extended to you and your staff. As you say “Do it for the little guy.” They need our help, and should this get posted, Readers of Cliff notes we need your help, Please join the 3000 Club if you haven’t done so. $10.00 may not seem like much, but as a concentrated effort, we can and will meet our goal.
Dean R.
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Castro Valley Companion Animal Hospital - Mention CLIFFNotes and get $ 15.00 off your next visit,
Join the "3000 Club and get
$ 30.00 off.
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So Much in the Pipeline This Week
Normally I like to report on all the progress we've made the past week, but this week it seems a lot of projects we are working on,
are the verge of completion - including the study we need for the Environmental Impact Report!
And this story is making the news, this tragedy happened in Concord, CA: 
Our sympathies to the family in this horrible incident - and it is noteworthy to us because a ferret was seized from the residence. When this story came up on a Google news search for "ferrets, California" I was afraid the ferret was going to share the blame. After all, isn't this what the Department of Health Services warned us about in their study - Pet European Ferrets, A Hazard to Public Health, Small Livestock and Wildlife ? But the ferret has not been left with any of the blame in this very sad situation.
There was one comment posted in this UK newspaper's website which we can appreciate (the highest rated comment):
I know there are pitbull lovers and people not so fond of pitbulls that read this newsletter. There were even some comments about gun control on our Facebook page. The only point we can all agree on is - the ferrets were the safest thing in the house. And thank goodness there was no way to blame the ferret. That is press we really don't want to see.
What else are we working on?
Our Op/Ed Piece. We are preparing a column to be sent to various newspapers around the state to see if we can get published and start a discussion. Ferrets need to be legalized. We are waiting for some comments still, but the input will be placed into next week's CLIFFNotes;
And then off to these newspapers:
Alameda Times-Star
Antelope Valley Press
Appeal-Democrat
Chico Enterprise-Record
Fresno Bee
Humboldt Beacon
Los Angeles Times
Los Banos Enterprise
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Merced Sun-Star
North County Times
Orange County Registrar
Riverside Press Enterprise
Sacramento Bee
San Diego Union Tribune
San Francisco Chroncile
San Jose Mercury News
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Santa Cruz Sentinnel
Sierra Star
The Daily Californian
The Modesto Bee
The Press-Enterprise
Vida en la Valle
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If you know of another newspaper we could email this to - please send me the info. A few weeks, later these papers will receive our media kit by mail.
 Candidate Survey. Dustin S. is busy trying to make sense out of a spreadsheet from the Secretary of State's office. We asked for a list of all candidates for State Assembly and state senate. The only thing they could send us was a list of controlled committees. What a mess! Thank you Dustin for trying to find the candidates. We will mail them a media kit and documentation - asking them to support ferret legalization if they are elected or re-elected. Our theme - Isn't it time ferrets were legalized?
LegalizeFerrets.org website - being redone! With all the traffic we hope to generate our website is in need of a major overhaul. I have hired a professional with web database experience to redo it.
Most Importantly - the EIR Research. I heard they have about 100 pages of research. It will be submitted for publication in the Journal of Mammalogy.
You can bet we'll FedEx a copy to Governor Schwarzenegger with a suggestion to leave us a legacy of ferret freedom. That's what he told us when he started, maybe we'll get it before he leaves. Don't get your hopes up though - we're not even sure he could do so, if he wanted. And there may even be a backlash against our research.
Ahem, Yippy! 
Looking For A Video Sponsor
Things I've learned from experience: When a veterinarian speaker is going to give profound, new advice - a week after the event people will ask "what did he say?"
This is what he gave us as a topic:
Things You Probably Don’t Know About Ferret Health
 For specifics. There appears to be a couple of ways to prevent the development of adrenal disease in ferrets that don't as yet have the disease. Considering that over 50% of ferrets will develop AD in their lifetime, prevention has enormous value. In addition, it seems possible that with drugs like Lupron and Deslorelin, many AD cases can be managed medically, thus avoiding the cost and troubles associated with adrenal surgery. In addition, I have some "hot" news about a vaccine that is being developed to prevent AD.
In the case of Distemper vaccination, two studies (not published yet) have evidence that as much as 90% of ferrets that have been properly vaccinated against distemper may not need boosters yearly, and may even be protected for the rest of their lives. Considering how terrible vaccine reactions are, this information might have serious impact on our vaccination strategies.
Since Todd Dayton is going to be filming there anyway - for an hour, he'll turn his camaras on Dr. Gandolfi and produce a video we can put on our website on Gandolfi's discussion topic.
- But of course there is an extra cost.
So - who'd like to sponsor the event? We'll put "sponsored by ???" and their ad on the web page. The cost to sponsor the video is $350. This is a talk that will be of interest to ferret owners worldwide and a great way to reach them. The first company or person to commit gets the spot!
Friday night, we got a call that a ferret had been found by some children playing. Luckily, the children were kind and very gentle and took the ferret home to their parents who called OCFerrets to help.
Saturday morning, we picked up the ferret who was in very good shape for a furkid who had been outdoors, and took him home to trim nails, treat ears for mites, and get him settled down. He's a sweet boy who was very well loved, well fed and had a beautiful coat and teeth. Since we had a very busy Saturday planned, we picked Sunday morning (today) as the day to go house to house and to hang flyers to try to find the family of the ferret that had been found. The second house we went to, a little boy came to the door with his mother who said that he knew someone with a ferret. He grabbed a flyer and jumped on his bicycle and flew down the street. 15 minutes later, he came back with enforcements.
The owners had been located and we verified that this little guy was theirs with photos of their own, and photos on my cell phone taken this morning for the slim chance we could find the ferret's family. Its times like these that make us understand why we'll go to any means to ensure that ferrets are kept safe.
Please remember:
- Its summertime, keep your ferrets cool (under 75-80 degrees maximum)
- Always have recent photos of your ferrets on hand.
- Keep the areas you keep your ferrets in secure.
- Ferret proof everything!
- Ferret proof everything again!!
Ferrets are more resourceful than anyone can possibly realize!
This could have been a sad story for Pikah, the ferret whose family was found today. Luckily the little guy made it more than 3 blocks away from home, near a very busy freeway exit street with vehicles doing in excess of 60+ mph at all times of day & night.
Lance M.
FA / OCF / CDFEA
Stick with us - things could get interesting shortly as the EIR study is released. How are those who have opposed us so long going to react? Can we actually get a discussion started and get influential people to start to say "Yes - it is time those little ferrets were legal" ? Will either Jerry Brown or Meg Whitman acknowledge our issue? Or will Joe Ferret announce a write in campaign on September 25th. So much to do!
And will the California Fish and Game Commission treat us fairly and publish the Notice of Preparation - or can we expect games and delays?
You know what could be hitting that fan shortly - so get involved!
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