A letter to my representative

In response to a new piece of legislation I wrote to my representative as a step toward opening some eyes and ears.  I hope this encourages and moves you to write to your representative if you are also concerned about this issue. For that matter you should discuss with your representative any issues that you are concerned with.

__________________________________

I am concerned with a piece of legislation in discussion, HR 669.  The general consensus from animal lovers across the united states is that this code, with its current somewhat ambiguous wording, could result in many pet owners leaving the country to protect what they consider to be family. Or worse yet, domesticated animals being euthanized or set free to fend for themselves in the wild.

The animal in particular I am concerned with, as well as many animal lovers, is ferrets.  I did read that animals that are "established" enough and in too great of number would not be a concern of this invasive species act. However, the amount of misunderstanding regarding ferrets, their great number, and lets face it the refusal too or inability to listen to the pleas of the people attempting to correct these problems could produce a horrible result.

According to the California Department of Fish and Game and a study they published (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/nuis_exo/ferret/ferret.html), though the research had varying numbers, the ferret population was as low as 5 million but as high as 10 million through the mid to late 90's. I chose this particular study as California has been one of the most vocal and known states that have made ferrets illegal as pets. The study states that while the numbers vary they did conclude that there was a significant increase in the ferret population from the mid to late nineties.

I would also like to address the supposed "violent nature" of ferrets. Many articles I have researched include the same statistics discovered in 2003, which are as follows "Dog bites make up 80-85% of all reported incidents. Cats account for about 10% of reported bites, and other animals (including hamsters, ferrets, rabbits, horses, raccoons, bats, skunks, and monkeys) make up the remaining 5-10%." If you divide the percent of bites equally among the 8 species listed here ferrets would be responsible for .4%-.8% of animal bites.

Thank you for your time and I encourage you to share this information with the other legislators involved in this process as I will be sharing it with fellow Americans.  I will also be encouraging them to contact you and their respective representatives until our voice is heard.

With Gratitude,

Brandie Hardman