Our Official Petition to the California Fish and Game Commission has been Submitted. Supporting Documents:
Here is the cover letter:
LegalizeFerrets.org
PO Box 1480
La Mesa, CA 91944
619-303-0645 or cell 619-757-7426
California Fish and Game Commission
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
July 10, 2019
Re: Petition To The California Fish and Game Commission for Regulation Change
Dear Fish and Game Mangers,
Please consider this supporting letter to the also attached petition.
We are asking you to not refer to domestic ferrets as wild animals.
When we previously asked the commission to remove ferrets from the list of prohibited wildlife I was told by Mr. Sklar that it was more complicated than I realized. That “environmentalists” would sue the Commission if they acted upon it. He advised me to get the support of a legislator because legislation is not subject to CEQA.
We have tried on many fronts to gain the support of a legislator. Support for ferret legalization is hampered by opposition from the Sierra Club among other groups. Here is one comment:
“Sierra Club has long opposed holding wild animals as pets, but particularly when those animals could present a problem if they accidentally or intentionally are introduced into the state’s natural areas. There are many, many examples of exotic critters that have become problems in California after being introduced into the wild. One that I am very familiar with is the bull frog, which has helped push out other amphibian species in certain habitats since its introduction in the 19th century.”
Kathryn Phillips kathryn.phillips@sierraclub.org
We are asking the Sierra Club to reevaluate their position, but they have not yet responded to us. However, an out of state member received this response:
I have checked with the chairman of the Sierra Club California conservation committee and he reports that our position is to follow the lead of the California Fish and Wildlife Department, which is concerned that if pet ferrets were to escape, they would threaten native wildlife. The Sierra Club position is to support the state wildlife professionals. If the agency changes its position and finds that ferrets pose no threat the Sierra Club will consider changing its position at that time. I’m very sorry that you feel you must resign your membership over this issue when there is so much else we agree upon.
Bruce Hamilton <bruce.hamilton@sierraclub.org>
We thus have a circular reference. You, the Fish and Game Commission, have told us you won’t move on ferrets for fear of being sued by “the environmentalists.” The Sierra Club, the nation’s premier environmental organization, will not move on the issue until the California Fish and Game Commission alters the classification of domestic ferrets as wild animals.
This isn’t fair to us, ferret enthusiasts. There are no studies or reports that show the domestic ferret as wild. The domestication process is quite objective – by every measure ferrets are domestic.
We are chipping away at this slowly. This is a request for your agency to quit referring to domestic ferrets as wild animals which will help us find a legislative sponsor.
Sincerely,
Pat Wright