A group fighting a 20-year legal battle is now employing a new tactic. \u201cLegalize Ferrets,\u201d founded by La Mesa resident Pat Wright, still has the ultimate goal of having ferrets as legal domestic pets in the state of California \u2014 but now they are working with council members to declare the city of La Mesa a \u201cferret-friendly\u201d or \u201cferret sanctuary\u201d city.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know there are ferrets and people who love ferrets in our city,\u201d La Mesa councilwoman Kristine Alessio told the Legalize Ferrets group at a meet-and-greet on July 15. \u201cI have taken on the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How the law stands now <\/strong><\/p>\n The Mustelidae or mustelids family of animals was first banned in California in 1933. The species family of fur-bearing carnivores includes ferrets, weasels, otters, badgers and polecats, according to Brittanica.<\/p>\n Ferrets remain on the restricted species list, pursuant to Fish and Game Code Section 2118 and California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 671. Within Section 671, ferrets are further designated as \u201cdetrimental animals.\u201d California and Hawaii are the only two states that still ban ferrets from domestic ownership (in fact, Legalize Ferret supporter Tyler Jernigan, who is out in San Diego for flight school for the summer, said his girlfriend stayed in South Carolina 90 percent due to the fact that she couldn\u2019t move her ferret out here).<\/p>\n Erin Chappell, wildlife supervisor of the California Fish and Game Commission, said those regulations exist because animals like ferrets pose a threat to native wildlife, the agricultural interests of the state, or to public health and safety. She explained those laws and regulations are intended to prevent depletion of animals in the wild and to restrict animals that pose a threat to native wildlife, agriculture, and public health and safety.<\/p>\n However, the Center for Disease Control, the Humane Society of the United States, and U.S. Department of Agriculture all classify ferrets as domestic animals, linking them with pets like dogs and cats. According to a study done by the California State University in 2010, no state has reported a major detrimental impact on agri-business by ferrets or from having a feral ferret population.<\/p>\n In California, permits are allowed for qualified businesses like zoos and research laboratories to keep ferrets; however, individuals are not permitted to own them. Currently, a possessor of ferrets could be fined and have their animal confiscated (although ferret owner Megan Mitchell noted that many California regions operate under a \u2018don\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell\u2019 policy).<\/p>\n To get the ferrets off the restricted species list would require one of three things \u2014 the California Fish and Game Commission to amend the code, the California Legislature to remove ferrets from the list through a bill, or for a ballot initiative to be passed by California voters.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fight for legalization<\/strong><\/p>\n Legalize Ferrets has tried all of these routes. From 1994 to 1999, four different bills to legalize ferrets were introduced in the legislature. In 2004, SB89 actually made it to the floor, but was vetoed by then Governor Schwarzenegger on the last day (ironically, Schwarzenegger worked with a ferret in the film \u201cKindergarten Cop.\u201d) Since then, no legislator has picked the cause back up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a sexy issue,\u201d Alessio said. \u201cBut it\u2019s one of those ridiculous laws in California that needs to be changed.\u201d<\/p>\n La Mesa Councilmember Bill Baber elaborated, \u201cThese domesticated pets are legal in 48 states. The main impediment to legalization here is an intransigent state bureaucracy.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2015, Legalize Ferrets launched a ballot initiative, and collected 10,000 signatures \u2014 but they needed 91,470 to trigger a legislative hearing.<\/p>\n Starting in the mid-1990s, the group has advocated for regulation changes at the California Fish and Game Commission public hearings.<\/p>\n But as recently as April of this year, the commission refused to move ferrets off the restricted species list.<\/p>\n \u201cThe commission chose not to issue permits for ferrets as pets,\u201d Chappell said. \u201cThey are not willing to consider that.\u201d<\/p>\n Chappell\u2019s memo to the commission, written with the legal counsel of Mike Yaun, recommended this course of action. To move the species into non-restricted territory would first require an environmental impact report.<\/p>\n Legalize Ferrets had submitted a report with their petition from a professor at California State University analyzing the impact of domesticated ferrets on human health and agriculture. Chappell\u2019s memo noted that the purpose of the report was to \u201cfully summarize the body of knowledge on the domesticated ferret for potential impacts and an analysis to identify potentially significant issues so that commission could proceed with the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report.\u201d<\/p>\n The staff recommendation to the commission was to deny the petition to remove ferrets from the restricted species list, and if the commission wanted to move forward, establish a \u201ccontract selection process\u201d and proceed with a \u201cpetitioner-funded\u201d EIR. The commission chose to let the issue drop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Time to open a new door<\/strong><\/p>\n But the Legalize Ferrets organizers have not been deterred. Wright connected with his neighbors, Alessio and Baber, and have introduced them to a region of ferret lovers.<\/p>\n \u201cFerrets are just too cute,\u201d Sandra Ignosci said, who loves her pet ferrets so much she has cremated former ferrets on her mantle. \u201cThey really are good animals. I love it when you can let somebody learn what ferrets are really like.\u201d<\/p>\n Somebody like Mary Abbott, who after being around the ferrets belonging to Legalize Ferrets\u2019 friends, has a new perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople say ferrets deserve to be in the wild, but they don\u2019t seem dangerous at all,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve really changed my mind! These ferrets like to cuddle. They are really not going to cause any harm.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick Scofield, who was introduced to the species when he married Mitchell, also had a conversion experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a stigma attached to ferret owners, being kind of weird,\u201d he laughed. \u201cBut ferrets play and interact just like a dog would.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Raszkowski, who now dates a ferret lover, agreed, \u201cFerrets are amazing. They\u2019re like a curious little puppy \u2014 totally harmless.\u201d<\/p>\n Scofield and Mitchell run a similar organization in the Los Angeles area called \u201cAngel City Ferrets,\u201d and refer to Wright as the figurehead of the legalization movement in California.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s put so much effort into this cause,\u201d Scofield said.<\/p>\n And Wright is still going full bore. His next step is to create a petition to present to the La Mesa City Council, along with video interviews asking Mayor Arapostathis to support the idea of a ferret-friendly or sanctuary city. Then it\u2019s back to the capitol.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a freedom issue,\u201d Wright emphasized. \u201cWe need to live and let live. All these years of lies and deceits \u2014 it\u2019s our duty to resist. We\u2019re going to win this one!\u201d<\/p>\n For more information or to get involved, visit legalizeferrets.org<\/a> or call 619-303-0645.<\/p>\n \u2014La escritora independiente Joyell Nevins puede ser contactada en <\/em>joyellc@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>. Tambi\u00e9n puedes seguir su blog Small World, Big God en swbgblog.wordpress.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Por Joyell Nevins<\/p>","protected":false},"author":826,"featured_media":224451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"Ferret-friendly","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548,11551,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier","category-news","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/826"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ferret-friendly\"](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/web-MAIN-Ferret-MM.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a><\/a>
position that ferrets should be classified as
pets. (Photo by Joyell Nevins)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>