Prospectus Sample

English 100

Jack Swanson

Prospectus

Date

Institutional Pet Discrimination in California

1.  Define Problem

          California is the last and only state in America where it is illegal to own a domestic pet ferret as a companion animal.  The main reason that they are illegal in California is the result of their misclassification as a "wild animal" sixty years ago by California's Department of Fish & Game.  Despite huge volumes of data proving the status of ferrets as "domestic" animals, the CDFG has refused to come clean and admit their mistake.  Their anti-ferret stance was made more obvious when legislative counsel for the DFG ruled that the Fish & Game Commission did not have the authority to change the status of ferrets.  This response was in related to the passage of HR 37 in the California Sate Assembly by a large bipartisan margin in 1996 which called on the Fish and Game Commission to recognize ferrets as a domesticated pet and to no longer ban ownership.  Further exacerbating the situation is the fact that the Commission had deleted animals from the wild animal list in the past and of the wild animal list itself which has printed on it that the animals on the list are "as determined by the Commission.

           While the battle for the legalization of ferrets in California has been mostly a grass roots campaign, there are some very powerful forces arrayed against us. Unfortunately some very prominent organizations have for either misguided reasons or because of the CDFG's influence over chosen to argue against legalization.  Among this group are the Los Angeles Zoo, the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society.  While these organizations have done much to promote animals and their importance to man, they have clearly missed the mark on the issue of ferret legalization.

        In June 1998 my girlfriend and I had the occasion to visit the Los Angeles Zoo.  We decided to start our visit by attending one of the zoo's regularly scheduled children's animal shows.  To the delight of the children and quite a few of the adults, one of the animals they brought out was a small sable female (jill) ferret.  She was coiled in the hands of her handler like a slinky with large, blinking inquisitive eyes darting back and forth across the audience. After showing her around up close to many of the children in the audience, she unfortunately when into a half-hearted explanation that ferrets where not domestic animals, they are dangerous to people, if let loose in the wild they are a danger to birds and they are illegal in California.  This irked me, as her explanation seemed too similar to CDFG's position to be a coincidence.  I waited until after the show and then I approached the animal handler.  I told her that I had owned ferrets in Texas for many years as pets and so had many of my friends and not one of us had ever thought of them as dangerous creatures or had even heard they were detrimental to the fowl life.  I further told her that I didn't feel that the zoo had been fair in its representation of the domestic ferret.  She stood there a few seconds and then almost as if to see if anybody might be within earshot she looked left and right and whispered "I know".   She went on to explain that she also didn't feel that ferrets were dangerous creatures and that she unfortunately had to say so because the official position of the zoo is such.  That intrigued me so I asked her if it had anything to do with the fact that they have to get permits from the CDFG for their animals; she said "could be" and told us she had to go and prepare for the next show.

           This is a shame because ferrets make excellent pets for people with small living spaces.  A ferret can happily live in a cage no more than 24" x 16" x 16 and requires very little in terms of food.  Older persons could have a pet that is easy to take care of and is easy on the pocket book.  Ferrets combine the playful puppy nature of a dog and the curious nature of a cat in a much smaller and less demanding package.  There have even been people in the medical field who have given value to the ferret as a tool for use in their rehabilitation programs.

2. Solution: 

          Legalize ferrets in California. We could propose legislation that encompasses most objections to the legalization of ferrets.  A mandatory spay & neuter amendment that would preclude the very unlikely possibility and concern of the National Audubon society of feral ferret colonies as the result of lost pet ferrets.  A minimum age requirement of 18 for potential pet owners to decrease the possibility of biting accidents as a result of mishandling by smaller children.  The education of the veterinary community to IMRAB a ferret specific rabies vaccine that has been in use in Europe and other states for years to prevent rabies.  The creation of workshops for interested parties and informational promotional literature to educate the public about ferrets will counteract the negative image that the public has been exposed to by sensationalist media.

3. Audience:

          The audience for this proposal will be the primarily the state legislators, pro-legalization interested parties and the public at large. 

4. Rhetorical Strategy:

          Consequence: This proposal will intend to present the
case for ferret legalization to legislators and inform the public at large about ferrets, the value of the ferret as a pet and develop support for pro-ferret legislation.  We should legalize ferrets because this will allow Californians to join the rest of the Union in enjoying the many benefits of owning a ferret as a companion animal.  We should legalize ferrets because to allow a government agency to tell us that we can't have a ferret for a pet, with no good reason, is an infringement of our rights as citizens.

5. Areas of Research:

          1990 Public Information Manual from Columbine Psychological Services, USDA approved vaccine database, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 1988 Bite statistics, Insurance Information Institute, Center for Disease Control Rabies Statistics, Marshal Farms Ferret Breeders.

6. Provisional Objective:

          The goal of this proposal will be inform the public about ferrets and develop interest in owning them as well as anger at the CDFG for their obstinate insistence and the ban of ferrets in California, thereby, developing support for the pro-ferret legislation.  Ultimately this support can be used to keep the currently proposed pro-legislation alive and fresh in the minds of our state legislators.