About Jeanne Carley, Publisher

Jeanne Carley's dedication to the ferret continues apart from The Ferret Company. She has spent several years trying to change California's unfounded and inhumane laws against these wonderful pets. She conceived of and implemented the successful ferret rescue program at California's 16 Agricultural Inspection Stations and was one of a few ferret advocates invited by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to attend a round-table discussion that resulted in a new, more ferret-friendly policy statement. This new position by HSUS gives the ferret the status and protection it deserves as a domesticated, companion animal.

"My mission is the humane treatment of the domesticated ferret, and the decriminalization of its owners, both in California and across the nation. I am committed to promoting these important goals; education, rescue and legalization."

Ferrets are currently prohibited in California resulting in needless suffering by both the animals and their owners. In California, ferrets often lack proper veterinary care. Visits to veterinarians come too late from owners desperate for treatment but afraid of discovery. In California, loving relationships are severed when family pets are confiscated by the California Department of Fish and Game to be shipped out of state or euthanized. Jeanne has been working to end the ban on ferret ownership in California for the last 8 years. She recently co-founded Californians for Ferret Legalization (CFL), the umbrella organization working to legalize ferrets in the last state on the continent. Since 1994, Jeanne has represented ferret enthusiasts at legislative hearings in Sacramento, meetings with the Department of Fish and Game and Health Services, and also at several Fish and Game Commission hearings conducted throughout the state.

"Jeanne Carley has been very important to the California Veterinary Medical Association in our effort to legalize the domesticated ferret. Her knowledge of the ferret issue has been invaluable to draw upon at our meetings with the State Legislature and with the regulatory agencies."
Dr. Dick Schumacher,
Executive Director, CVMA

"Ms. Carley has been one of the most respected and effective ferret activists in the state."
The Independent Voice, Fall/1996 newsletter from the nationally known League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts.

Jeanne and her father, Floyd Carley, have founded The Ferret Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non profit corporation whose goal is the prevention of the abuse and abandonment of domesticated ferrets by providing the public, humane organizations and ferret clubs and shelters with educational materials on the ferret's true nature and special needs. The foundation is currently in the process of raising the funds necessary to produce these materials which it hopes will prevent the acquisition of a ferret by anyone unprepared to meet the ferret's needs for its lifetime. For more information about the foundation, write to The Ferret Education Foundation, 410 Mountain Home Road, Woodside, CA 94062.