Prosecutor Seeks Six-Month Jail Term for Animal Rights Activist

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office is seeking six months’ jail time for an ex-child-star-turned-animal-rights-activist after her conviction under a 1978 city law aimed at curbing picket line violence.

Pamelyn Ferdin, 40, who for years provided the voice of Lucy in “Peanuts,” was convicted in San Fernando Municipal Court of having a “bull hook” while protesting a Circus Vargas performance at Pierce College in August.

The device, which Ferdin and other activists say is used cruelly against circus elephants, has a wooden shaft larger than three-quarters of an inch in diameter, a misdemeanor charge under a city law designed to keep potentially dangerous objects out of the hands of demonstrators.

Because Ferdin has said she will refuse to pay a fine or accept probation, the prosecution is seeking the maximum sentence--six months in County Jail--when she is sentenced Feb. 1. Her attorney, Los Angeles civil rights lawyer Hugh Manes, has filed a motion for a new trial, charging that the law is unconstitutional.

The case is bringing newfound attention to Ferdin, a once ubiquitous child actress who appeared in hundreds of sitcoms, commercials and made-for-TV movies in the 1960s and ‘70s.

“If going to jail means getting the animals’ message out, that’s fine with me,” said Ferdin, a co-founder of the Animal Defense League’s Los Angeles chapter.

Both sides agree that the bull hook she brought was never intended as a weapon. And Ferdin--who was originally told she was being arrested on the charge of assaulting an officer, only to have that allegation dropped--said she had taken the bull hook to dozens of demonstrations without so much as a peep from officers.

Her lawyer says the law is so broad that it would exclude protesters who rely on a cane or crutches. But Deputy City Atty. Christine Whitaker said the law exists for good reason.

“Just because it’s not well known to other people doesn’t mean it’s an obscure section,” she said. “[The bull hook] can be a very formidable weapon if anybody gets aggressive with it. The cause itself is not the point--who are you going to find that says: ‘Yes, I think animals should be abused?’ ”

Whitaker contends that protesters from the Animal Defense League, a self-avowed militant organization, harass innocent bystanders and feign injuries when approached by police--particularly if news cameras are present.

“Other people’s rights count, too, and yelling at children, yelling at police, lying about injuries. . . . I can’t see how that is helping their case,” she said. “They have to obey the rules, just like everybody else.”

Whitaker did not originally ask for a maximum sentence, but after researching the Animal Defense League’s Web site and learning of Ferdin’s prominent role in the group, she filed an amended sentencing brief. It concluded: “Civil disobedience carries with it a price, and believers in a cause must be prepared to pay that price for their lawbreaking. She clearly does not understand that now; perhaps a jail sentence will help her to.”

Ferdin mostly vanished from the public eye in the early 1980s, but only after amassing a long list of childhood acting credits that included a recurring role as the daughter of Tony Randall’s character on the “The Odd Couple,” and appearances on everything from “Family Affair” to “The Brady Bunch” to “Star Trek.” She also played a supporting role in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film “The Beguiled.”

Ferdin played so many roles, she says she can’t keep track of them all--although she does recall providing the voice of Fern, the girl who pleads with her father to save Wilbur the pig from slaughter in the 1973 animated film “Charlotte’s Web.”

If that was a portent of things to come, Ferdin insists that it wasn’t until about 10 years ago that she found her true calling, after witnessing firsthand the mistreatment of animals while working for a New York City animal shelter. While she still does voice-overs for the WB cartoon series “Detention,” Ferdin, a Santa Monica resident, now devotes most of her time to animal rights activism.

After she was featured on a recent installment of the newsmagazine “Extra,” Ferdin said she was flooded with calls and e-mail.

“Some of them were from fans that said, ‘I really appreciate what you’re doing and I was wondering what ever happened to you,’ ” Ferdin said. “It’s nice to know that so many people out there remember me.”