This letter was mailed on December 29th. Please send your own letter to the Assemblywoman asking in your own voice to help us. Written letters or postcards would be very helpful!
Assemblywoman Marie Waldron
350 W. 5th Avenue,
Suite 110,
Escondido, CA 92025
Dear Assemblywoman Waldron,
Because the deadline to get a bill into the Legislative Council’s office is January 20th, I’m writing this a little earlier than I wished.
I have spoken to your office before on this subject. I appreciated the honesty and friendliness of your then-legislative analyst. In addition, in watching your legislative activity, you are one of the most pro-freedom legislators in the California legislature. I understand why it is not in your best interest to introduce a ferret legalization bill currently. It would be a waste of time and effort.
However – we are going to ask the cities of Poway and Santee for a proclamation in support of a ferret legalization bill. I think I can be successful. The La Mesa proclamation is enclosed.
If we can convince the two incorporated cities in your district to support a ferret legalization bill, would you introduce the legislation? I believe, should that occur, you would have the political cover to justify introducing a ferret legalization bill.
I was successful in La Mesa. I was almost successful in Encinitas. The staff recommended the Encinitas city council support such a proposition (enclosed). In fact, Encinitas already has a law in effect recognizing the domestic ferret as a companion animal:
9.22.020 Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter only, the following words and terms shall be deemed to mean and be construed as follows: “Companion animal” means any animal that is commonly kept by persons as a pet or for companionship and includes, but is not limited to: domesticated dogs; domesticated cats; ferrets; gerbils; guinea pigs; hamsters; horses; mice; rabbits; and rats.
I took a cue from Judge Judy. When you’re ahead – keep your mouth shut. But radical environmentalists showed up to that meeting and I was unprepared and didn’t have a chance to rebut their arguments. (It was mostly about rabbits in Australia.) Plus, the left-leaning Encinitas city council all had their endorsements from the Sierra Club, except Tony Kranz, our one ally. No council member wants to risk being on the wrong side of the Sierra Club to please our rag-tag group of ferret lovers.
These self-identified “environmentalists” have a surprising amount of clout in various California governmental bodies. In public, they argue about “invasive species.” While that argument is more believable, it doesn’t hold up when one looks at research or documentation. Domestic ferrets have never gone feral, except in island ecosystems where they can interbreed with European polecats (New Zealand and the Shetland Islands, and other smaller islands in the British isles.).
Our most vocal opponents are concerned about the carbon footprint of our pets. I don’t think the public would buy that.
Here are our real concerns:
They are a domestic animal.
The ferret is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat, evidenced by their interfertility. Other mustelids include the stoat, badger and mink. Wikipedia
You will not find any reference to domestic ferrets being wild.
Domestic Animals are Legal Per the California Civil Code
Cal. Civ. Code § 655
Current through the 2022 Legislative Session.
Section 655 – Ownership of inanimate things
There may be ownership of all inanimate things which are capable of appropriation or of manual delivery; of all domestic animals; of all obligations; of such products of labor or skill as the composition of an author, the good will of a business, trade marks and signs, and of rights created or granted by statute.
Enacted 1872.
Fish and Game Code Excerpts §2116. Wild Animal As used in this chapter, “wild animal” means any animal of the class Aves (birds), class Mammalia (mammals), class Amphibia (frogs, toads, salamanders), class Osteichtyes (bony fishes), class Monorhina (lampreys), class Reptilia (reptiles), class Crustacea (crayfish), or class Gastropoda (slugs, snails) which is not normally domesticated in this state as determined by the commission.
The Fish and Game Commission never had any hearings about ferrets and simply lumped all mustelids as wild, and thus prohibited them in 1931.
The California Fish and Game Commission recently showed their willingness to defy science by classifying four species of bumble bees as fish. This was to allow the bees environmental protections not otherwise provided to insects.
Yes, a California court ruled bees are fish — but only for a specific conservation law
If you have read this far, thank you. I know it is more than you wish to know!
Will you help us?
Do you have an interest in meeting a group of ferret owners in your district? Might we even bring one of these dangerous ferrets?
Thank you for the help and consideration.
Pat Wright
LegalizeFerrets.org