Hi Everyone,
 
I have some rather harsh comments to make on the so called articles being
cited in the Marshall Farms discussion.
 
Please realize that these are NOT news reporting.  These are simply press
releases from organizations that have a long history of strong bias.
 
I have worked both as a reporter and as a public relations liaison.  I am
closely acquainted with the use of press releases to help a cause.
 
Look closely at the "articles" and you can judge them for yourselves.  They
DO NOT quote first hand sources.  In fact, they only quote animal rights
activists, they never even give the original source for the statements.
 
These "articles" do not say where any of the people being quoted got their
information from.  Hell, they are just quoting vague information from OTHER
press releases, not even any news source.
 
It disturbs me greatly to see something like "so and so was going to change
their minds on the issue." They aren't even quoting the people who were
doing it, they are quoting someone else's assumptions about what others
were THINKING.
 
Tubes down ferrets throats to the stomach???  Feeding tubes.
 
Holes cut in ferrets throats??  Tracheotomy or something else.
 
Vet students practicing on ferrets for surgical procedures?  Yep, they do
it all over the United States.
 
How do you think fledging vets get their practice?  They use live animals.
The practice includes how to correctly introduce tubes into the stomach etc
so that the animal doesn't accidentally die due to the tubes going into the
wrong places.  They practice shots, which include sub-q (under the skin)
and vein puncture.
 
There is, ultimately, NO substitute for these types of practice, including
all out surgical procedures.  I have been told, by vets, that the feel of
using a live animal is just not the same as anything CURRENTLY AVAILABLE as
a substitute.  These practice runs are also done in the same manner as they
would be done by any vet.  They are done as humanely as possible.
 
Doctors have the ability to use human corpses for similar practice.  Do I
like it?  Not at all.  But when I have a sick animal that needs these types
of treatments, I am grateful that it is available.
 
I have read articles from LIFE and Peta many years ago.  As someone who
has trained and practiced journalism, I was upset over the EXTREME bias
of their so called "reporting." I have not, until tonight, read ether's
articles for years.  I have found them to be useless for any type of
correct information, and as for the article on Marshall Farms on the Acme
Ferret site, I still find them useless.
 
We need to fight for changes, I have no doubt.  I would like to see some
changes in how Marshall Farms operate.  But I have not, ever, seen any
evidence to make me think that they operate in as bad a manner as is
portrayed by the above article.
 
We need to fight using correct, verifiable information.  Not just quotes
from unnamed sources, or quotes from press releases.  Please be very
careful when you read things like these and take a critical look at how
something is written.  No one, in their right mind, would respond to
questioning from "reporters" such as these, because they have shown how
strong a bias they have.  To me, that proves that they would not be above
quoting out of context etc., to put their own slant on ANY quotes.
 
Maggie
[Posted in FML issue 3181]