Five Dollar Ferret Friday

Things just keep getting more and more interesting.

As you know, we filed a Public Records Act request seeking documents related to Petition 2025-003 — our petition to remove domestic ferrets from California's "wild and detrimental" list.

On April 3rd, the Department of Fish and Wildlife informed us that no responsive records existed.

The second batch of records, however, tells a different story.

After reviewing the documents and reconstructing the timeline, several inconsistencies became apparent.

The records show:

• The ferret petition appeared on an internal agenda.
• Staff discussed the petition.
• A litigation hold was issued on May 5th.
• Internal emails concerning the petition were created on May 6th.
• Some responsive documents were withheld under attorney-client privilege.
• These events occurred after the Department stated that no records existed.

In short, the agency's own records appear inconsistent with its earlier response.

We'll be covering the timeline and documents in much greater detail in Sunday's CLIFFNotes.

This is why the case matters. It is not simply about ferrets. It is about whether agencies can accept petitions, delay action indefinitely, and then provide incomplete or contradictory explanations about what occurred behind the scenes.

Every Friday, a small group of supporters helps keep this effort moving forward. Last week, 10 people contributed $70. Those donations help pay for public records requests, court filings, document review, website hosting, and outreach.