Oh, the irony. On a day that Governor Newsom is running television commercials in Florida saying how California values freedom, this letter appeared in the LA Times regarding their recent article on our efforts.
JULY 3, 2022 3 AM PT
To the editor:
Ferrets are adorable. Yet as much fun as it was to see their cute faces in the Los Angeles Times, it was even better to read that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who professed his love for ferrets after co-starring with one, had the good sense and conscience to veto a bill that would have legalized them as pets.
Ferrets owned as pets will either be condemned to life indoors or will be outdoors ravaging wildlife. We already face that dilemma with the cats so many of us adore.
We would be foolish to invite a repeat scenario with another strictly carnivorous species, whose members deserve better lives than what we can offer them inside our homes where they will be, too often, kept in cages. No animal should have to suffer that for the crime of being irresistible.
Karen Dawn, Santa Barbara
The writer is executive director of DawnWatch, an animal advocacy nonprofit.
Notice there is no mention of invasive species. Karen is honest with her intentions. To her, pets don’t belong “inside our homes.” Or outside either. Karen shares the PETA argument that pet ownership is a form of animal slavery.