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The email newsletter of LegalizeFerrets.org View this email in your browser Vol 13 No 19, April 30th, 2017

<<First Name>> <<Last Name>> <<Custom1>> <<Custom2>> More Follow Up to Last Week's Fish and Game Meeting Now for the Juicy Stuff Above, click on the image to open a YouTube video Megan M made of our presentations at the April 26th Fish and Game meeting. We were awesome! And thank you, Megan!



More Follow-Up



As I wrote up in the Five Dollar Ferret Friday email, (you know where I ask people for five bucks), Fish and Game President Eric Sklar told me why Fish and Game can't move forward on ferrets.



He also said he didn't approve of the Fish and Game's current "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" position. An interesting admission that the ferret ban isn't actively enforced.



He said they would need a full blown EIR to proceed, that they would estimate a cost of $200,000 but actually the bill would be $600,000 when it was finished, and we would all end up in court with ferrets still being illegal.



Who's taking us to court? Environmental Groups. What "Environmental Group" always opposes us? The California Waterfowl Assoc made up of former Fish and Game officials.



Our best option is the legislature, according to Mr. Sklar. If a ferret legalization bill passed it wouldn't be subject to an official EIR (Environmental Impact Report). We have an unofficial one here.



In that case, I asked President Sklar, would you write a letter to legislators asking them to introduce a bill and would you support ferret legalization through the legislature?



He said he would check with his staff. I don't expect him to be our advocate but I do expect him to write a letter to legislators saying only they (the legislature) can fix this problem. I hope and believe that will land us a legislative sponsor. I will follow up with him on Wednesday. (I have his cell number and I told him I'd never give it out.)



Why is he sticking his neck out for us? Few people remember that when Ferrets: a Selective Overview of Issues and Options was published in 1997 the Fish and Game Commission at the time tried to have the author fired because the article was not anti-ferret. President Sklar risks angering those people in power who have really had it in for us. No, I'm not paranoid. If you've been following the ferret issue for a long time you know that. We Have Some Horrible Grunt Work

We need to email all the staff members of the state legislature, about 400 in total. We've done this several times before and got a lot of interest.

I thought I was smart and bought the email list this time. But when I went to load the data staff info wasn't there.



It is, but we need to cut and paste into a new spreadsheet. For both the State Senate and the State Assembly.



I'd like to email out Eric Sklar's letter next week or as soon as I get it, assuming he does provide the letter.



Who's up for some mind-numbing work? Thank you, Steven and Sue, for the above photo. I have to add that I think it would be irresponsible for me to run this photo without mentioning that putting a newborn and a ferret together without 100% supervision is not a good idea. I know my ferrets have claws and could unintentionally harm a delicate baby. FERRETS ANONYMOUS PRESENTS… THE ANNUAL FERRET ROUND UP Hosted by: Golden State Ferret Society







WHEN

Saturday, June 3rd

11am – 4pm (Vendor setup @ 10am)

WHERE

Castro Valley Moose Lodge

20835 Rutledge Road, Castro Valley, CA 94546

WHAT

This is an annual meeting of ferret enthusiasts throughout California and Nevada.

Please join us to meet new people, learn from ferret experts, and have fun!



ADMISSION

$15 cash at the door



REFRESHMENT

Lunch and water is included with ticket & cash bar is onsite



GUEST SPEAKERS Dr. Rene Gandolfi

Dr. Richard Smith

RSVP

Let us know that you will be attending: https://goo.gl/Qy0gqJ Join the 3000 Club In Conclusion I sure hope and believe we will some kind of letter from Fish and Game President Eric Sklar. Then the fun will begin.



We're pretty organized and I'm going to go out on that limb and believe we will line up a legislative sponsor if he comes through.



And if doesn't come through, I think we will have more legal avenues open up to us. Based on what he's said - they know ferrets aren't wild, he doesn't care if people have them, they'd be sued if they removed them from the prohibited species list...



But I don't want to take legal action. I want to thank him for having a conscience, or realizing that something isn't right and offer to help us in at least a limited way.



Hope for good things. It is harder and harder for them to keep the ferret ban and I think at least Mr. Sklar wants to move on. His job is tough enough!



Thank you,



Pat Wright

CLIFFNotes@legalizeferrets.org

619-303-0645