My Council Member Did NOT vote "Yes"

Now what do I do?

Why didn't some Council Members support the bill?

Some Council Members are going to side with the Mayor no matter what, and they won't change their votes no matter what anybody else says or does. That's just politics. But there are other Council Members who are openly admitting that the only reason they didn't support our bill is because nobody in their district cared about it.

After speaking with the offices of many of the Council Members, who did not vote "yes" it became very clear that many of the Council Members who voted against our bill or abstained did so because, although some of them had received letters asking them to vote yes, no one in their district had contacted them and asked them to support the bill to legalize ferrets. Those are the people who matter most to them. One office even said -politely- "I doubt that anyone in our district has a pet like that."

There are many people who did contact their Council Members and in most cases, as a result of those calls or letters, those Council Members voted "Yes." Some people even wrote to other Council Members as well and that too was helpful. However, there are some Council Members who are really only interested in hearing from the people who live in their district. The people that they were elected to represent. -Even if everybody else in NY contacted them, nobody from their district contacted them and those are the people with the power change those Council Members’ minds.

We only need 8 more votes.

Ferrets could be legal by the end of this month if 8 more Council Members support our bill. If we don't get those 8 votes, we'll have to start all over again next year. It's taken over 2 years for us to get to this point and it's still possible for us to win this right now but we need 8 of the Council Members who voted "no" or who "abstained" to change those votes to "yes".

Call your Council Member’s office today.

• Tell them you are a member of their district (*VERY important to state up front)
  
  
• Tell them you're calling about the ferret bill (Intro 627-A)
  
  
• Tell them you'd like them to support the bill and that you heard they did not vote in favor of it the last time.
  
  
• Tell them (nicely and respectfully) that you'd like to know what the Council Member's reasons were for not supporting the bill last time. Tell them you'd genuinely like to know because this bill is important to you and, as a member of the Council Member's district, you'd like the opportunity to gather information to address those issues or concerns as quickly as possible.
  
  
• Ask if it would be possible for you to meet with the Council Member in person. If you are able to set up a meeting, let us know and we'll try to attend the meeting with you so that we can answer additional questions the Council Member may have about ferrets or the ferret bill. Email us with the date, time, and location of the meeting, as well as a phone number where you can be reached and we’ll do our best to attend.

• If you speak with your Council Member on the phone, write down any questions or concerns the Council Member had about the bill. If you don't know the answer to a specific question, don't make it up! Let them know that you're uncertain about the answer and that you'll find out the information and get back to them. Then contact NYC Ferrets.Com and we'll provide you with the additional information, studies and figures that you need.
  
  
• Write your Council Member a letter after you call and thank them for speaking with you. Remind them that as a member of their district you'd like them to vote in FAVOR of legalizing ferrets in NYC. Or, write them a letter letting them know (respectfully) that you're a member of their district and you've been trying to reach them because you'd like them to legalize ferrets in NYC -and then explain why. (Make sure you've called too. With the deadline approaching, calls may be more effective at this point.)

*Remember…

• You do not need to currently own (or admit to currently owning) ferrets to have an opinion on this issue. You could be thinking of owning a ferret in the future, or you may have owned one in the past, or you may have friends who own them. Don't let "fear of exposure" keep you from contacting your Council Member.

• It’s perfectly acceptable to let your Council Member know that you've never contacted a Council Member or any official before but that you’re doing so now because this issue is very important to you.

• Other people in your immediate neighborhood also live in your Council Member’s district! Have them call and write to the Council Member as well.

If your Council Member decides to change their vote to a "Yes" let us know. If we can confirm that we have enough votes to pass this bill, we can persuade the Council to schedule an override vote. If we cannot confirm that there are enough votes to pass the bill, the override vote will not be scheduled and we will lose our opportunity to legalize ferrets at this time.

Help Us Keep Kathryn Freed in Office

Kathryn Freed is the sponsor of our bill to legalize ferrets. Once you've contacted your local Council Member, we could also use your help to get Kathryn on the ballot for NYC Public Advocate. We only have until July 10th to do this and it's important for us to keep Kathryn in office, especially if our bill doesn't pass this year.

<--More about Kathryn Freed's Bill to Legalize Ferrets