>I read Lissete mail complaining against Marshal Farms and the later
>comments that in this particular phrase: "Linking the Nazi death camp with
>Marshall Farms may seem an effective way to blacken the reputation of the
>ferret breeder, but what it really does is diminishes the atrocities
>committed in the camps." Seems to truly believe that such horrors can not
>happen to animals.  OK maybe he is referring particularly to MF but if
>there were any doubt about it I would like to share my point of view too.
 
Caterina, please re-read carefully my original post.  Where did I once say
that atrocities cannot and do not happen to animals in general, and ferrets
in particular.  Look hard, because you will not find any such statement or
implication.
 
I do stand by my post.  The story of Nazis flying two little girls from
Norway to Auschwitz for the purpose of killing them was a falsehood - a
lie, if you will.  Such an event did not and could not have factually
happened in the manner and timeframe the original author described.  The
story was used for the express purpose of stirring emotions of readers
against MF by linking them with the Nazi death camps and the atrocities
committed against millions of people.  The fact remains - likening animal
breeders to the Nazi extermination camps diminishes the horrors committed
to the millions of humans who suffered and died in them.
 
MF is an animal breeder, not a death camp run by Nazis.  People may not
like their methods, but the breeders are not a Nazi death camp.  That
is a fact, pure and simple.  The death camps had one purpose - to
institutionally destroy human beings on a mass scale.  Animal breeders are
in the business of breeding and raising animals for profit.  Genocidal
practices would destroy the profit of breeders.  The two situations cannot
be accurately compared.
 
There are those who feel that all large breeders are wrong.  That is their
right.  However, some feel it is necessary to distort the facts, take other
facts out of context, exaggerate other facts, use false facts to create an
emotional feeling against the breeders, and in some cases, just plain lie
in order to blacken the image of the large breeders.  That is wrong.  Are
some of the MF and other breeder practices in need of a change?  Most
certainly there are.  But, lies and innuendo are not the way to effect
those changes.  Many of the claims against MF particularly, come from
animal rights group whose stated agenda is to put all animal breeders out
of business by any means possible.  As a result, all of their allegations
must be suspect and carefully examined and questioned.
 
The situation described in Mexico, has no correlation to large ferret
breeding farms or mills.  First, it does not deal with ferret breeders.
More importantly, it describes the actions of individuals or small groups
and not the for-profit business practices of breeding farms or mills.
[Posted in FML issue 3175]