PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Ask California to Decriminalize Ferret Owners
  1. Signatures
    518 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. The Governor of CA (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The Governor of CA
      • California Fish and Game Commission
  2. Created By
    Pamela Black
    Lapeer, MI
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

For eighty years, a law has banned the ownership of ferrets in California. Currently California and Hawaii are the only two states where ferrets remain illegal. Some reports indicate that despite the ban, there may be more ferrets in California than any other states.

Ferret owners have to remain underground, fearful that any day their ferrets can be taken away from them. These otherwise law-abiding citizens have been fighting for at least twenty years to change the law but their cause continues to fall on deaf ears.

In 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a ferret amnesty bill, stating that he wanted an Environmental Impact Report completed first. No other pet has required such high standards. The California Fish and Game Commission is the only agency able to complete the report.

Unwilling to do so, the organization LegalizeFerrets.org paid to have an EIR produced. The report found that pet ferrets are not a threat to wildlife and agriculture. In the other 48 states where they are legal there has not been one report of a ferret colony, despite the Commission's fears that escaped ferrets will breed to out-of-control numbers.

Ferret owners of California simply want to own their pets legally. Such a simple request has been met with overly high resistance for many years. The time has come for California's new administration to allow legal ferret ownership.

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

End the Ban on Ferret Ownership

Greetings,

In 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a ferret amnesty bill until an Environmental Impact Report had been completed. Since that time, a preliminary EIR has been submitted to the Fish and Game Commission by the organization LegalizeFerrets.org.

The submitted EIR shows that ferrets do not pose a threat to wildlife and agriculture. Furthermore, the Commission’s fears that escaped ferrets will multiply to out of control levels is unfounded. In the 48 states where ferret ownership is legal there has not been one report of a feral ferret colony.

I understand that ferrets are not a high priority to the Commission. The Commission knows that they are in the state illegally but has more pressing matters to attend to than cracking down on ferret ownership. Some estimates indicate that there are more ferrets in California than any other state. With budget concerns in California, regulating ferrets through licenses and fees would be a wise investment.

Ferret owners in California are otherwise law-abiding citizens. They have been fighting for 20 years to pass a law allowing them to bring their ferrets out of hiding.

I ask that the Commission acknowledge the EIR before them and consider its findings. The law banning ferrets is 80 years old and long overdue for revision. It’s time to give ferrets – and their owners – the amnesty they deserve.

Thank you,

[Your name]

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