Arnold backs Ferrets for the people of CA

California ferret lovers are hoping that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign legislations to make the ownership of the animal legal. For the past 70 years, ferrets have been banned from CA, due to fears that they may spread into the wildlife and ravage populations of ground dwelling birds and
other small animals. CA is the only state in the whole of America, apart from Hawaii, to ban ferrets
and the Department of Fish and Game want to keep it that way.

"Like any kind of weasel, they're very good at what they do," said Ron Jurek, a biologist in the
wildlife department. "And weasels keep on killing."

Owning one of the animals is a considered a crime in California, though the it is rarely prosecuted. Ferret owners believe that Arnold, who shared the screen with a ferret in his 1991 hit movie 'Kindergarten Cop' will sign these legislations.

Whilst Schwarzenegger has been busy with other priorities, CA's multibillion-dollar fiscal mess inparticular one, ferret enthusiasts still see hope in him. A spokeswoman refused to comment on what his ferret agenda might be, but this is not deterring the animal lovers:

"We have an inequity here, and this man is sensitive to that kind of thing," said Jeanne Carley, founder of Californians for Ferret Legalization. "The state wildlife agency doesn't regulate cats and dogs, so why should it regulate ferrets?"

Sen. Dede Alpert, D-San Diego would like to know the same thing. She sponsored the most recent pro-ferret legislation, which passed the Senate 31-5 despite opposition from the California Waterfowl Association.

Alpert told the Los Angeles Times that she hoped to move the measure through the Assembly next year. The legislations put forward will legalize ferrets now owned in the state but ban any new sales
or imports of the animal.

"He's worked with ferrets in 'Kindergarten Cop,'" said Alpert of Schwarzenegger, "so he knows they're not the man-eating creatures that Fish and Game makes them out to be."

"This is my ferret - it's ok, he don't bite"

In DVD news, the 1973 movie The Long Goodbye where Arnold made a cameo as one of
Augustine's hoods has been scheduled for a Region 2 release on February 2nd, 2004. No details have been released on it as of yet, so it is thought to be the same as the R1 edition.