Posted: May 28, 2009, 3:30 p.m. EDT
Some ferret owners seeking to legalize domestic ferret ownership in California are planning to ask pet specialty retailer Petco to help fund their cause. But first they are asking for Petco receipts.
LegalizeFerrets.org, a San Diego chapter of Ferrets Anonymous, is asking Petco shoppers to send in their receipts to show support for domestic ferret legalization in California. LegalizeFerrets.org founder Pat Wright said the group plans to submit the receipts to Petco on July 3 along with an official request for funding. Petco had not been reached for comment at presstime.
The funding, Wright said, would be used to help pay for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which will include information on ferret studies, among other things. Wright said an EIR must be filed with the state of California before the Department of Fish and Game will address the issue of ferret legalization and possibly change its policy. The cost of completing the EIR is about $20,200, according to Wright.
To help pay for the EIR, LegalizeFerrets.org is turning to Petco.
“We’ve been supporting Petco for years. Look at their ferret aisle — it’s 15 feet of ferret supplies in California,” Wright said. “We, the ferret owners of California, have been supporting them. Maybe they can do something to help us out.”
LegalizeFerrets.org is collecting receipts from any Petco in the country and for supplies for any pet — not just ferrets. Wright said including the receipts with the request for funding will give the request “clout.”
“If we include a lot of Petco receipts it should say, ‘We are your customers. We spend a lot of money,’” he said.
LegalizeFerrets.org is working with G.O. Graening, an environmental consultant with Natural Investigations Co. of Folsom, California, to complete the EIR. So far, Wright said he is encouraged by Graening’s feasibility study, which found the California Department of Fish and Game is willing to work with the group.
Overall, Wright said he is optimistic the ban will be ultimately lifted on domestic ferrets.
“I’m positive that the data will show ferrets don’t have any impact on the environment,” Wright said. “Whether or not [the department] plays politics … that’s a possibility that we might have to deal with down the road, but there’s only one way to find out.”