>From:    Debbi Searing <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: the breeder question, and MF...again
>I personally have read so many horror stories about MF that I don't know
>how anyone can defend them.
 
The key word there is stories - how many of those "horror stories" were
backed with documentation that could be independently verified?  There are
usually three sides to any story - their side, the other side, and the
truth.  Too many people are eager to take one side or the other and forget
about seeking the truth.  Posts in the FML have repeated the same stories
about MF abuses time and again, without once giving any source other than
PeTA.  And, they are hardly an unbiased, independent source.
 
>From:    mnoble <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF and Labs and Path Valley
>Second I will again say that most medical research on ferrets is for
>convenience products.  No matter how much nutra sweet you pump into a
>ferret it does not prove a thing..  (thus my comment on providing a check)
>The labs that MF solicits in their ads for the perfect lab animals are not
>labs to improve the lives of ferrets.
 
What is the source for that statement?  It is made as a statement of fact,
but no source for the "facts" is offered.  Which labs are using ferrets
to test convenience products, and which products are being tested?  If this
is a statement of fact, identify those products so that concerned ferret
people can stop buying those products and contact the manufacturers with
their concerns.  What documentation do you have that the makers of
NutraSweet are using ferrets as test animals?
 
>Are the medical schools that use ferrets to teach intabation also doing
>the ferrets a service?  Seems that a ferret isn't willing being intabated
>over and over just because it is a great service to the ferret community.
 
No, it is true that the ferrets used in teaching intubation are not doing
ferrets a service - but they are providing the micropremie community a huge
service.  Perhaps you are unaware that micropremies can weigh as little
as 750 grams - that is one pound, eight ounces.  In other words, they are
about the same size or smaller than the average ferret.  In 1960, there
were 10,241 Caucasian babies born at less than 1,000 grams.  Only 67 lived.
In 1997, there were about 15,000 births in that same category and 10,000 of
them survived.  Part of that success comes from the intubation techniques
taught using ferrets.  Take the time to read the October 1999 issue of
PARENTING magazine to get more information on micropremies.  The mother of
the first child mentioned in that article is a friend of mine, and knows
how much ferrets had to do with saving the life of her child.  She is a
staunch ferret advocate and uses every opportunity to tell non-ferret
people (especially parents and families of micropremies) how unsung but
significant a role ferrets play in human lives.
 
The ferrets used in intubation procedures are not harmed and are adopted
out to loving homes when the medical universities stop using them.  And
thanks to those techniques, thousands of children are given a chance at
living.  Complaining about intubation procedure techniques being taught
on ferrets is such a narrow-minded, petty thing born of ignorance of how
important those techniques are.  Instead of complaining about that, the
ferret community should take pride that their favorite animal companion is
able to provide such an important, life-saving service to infants.  Perhaps
if more people - both in the ferret community and in the non-ferret
community knew of the hidden ways ferrets help them daily, more people
would better appreciate ferrets and give more support to the ferret
community.
[Posted in FML issue 2961]