I, too, saw the James Bond movie, Casino Royale, and was visibly
horrified at the portrayal of the ferret-mongoose-weasel vs snake
gambling event in the early part of the movie. Thankfully, I saw this
movie at home on pay-per-view and so no one but my family witnessed my
horror, then anger, then disgust.

It really doesn't matter if it was a ferret or a mongoose in that
scene - but what WAS important was the movie industry again displaying
any animal or animals in a fight-to-the-death game for money. How many
times does this occur each and every year!

Yeah, its easy to say that "well, it's just a movie or a t.v. show and
not real life." Really? The main reason I was horrified and outraged
was not so much the portrayal of the fight itself -- although the
animal rights activist part of me was absolutely furious about that -
but that the movie may have inspired others to mimic that scene and
decide, "hey! that looks like fun, let's do that too!" And what makes
you think those people knew the difference between a mongoose and a
ferret! All those idiots saw was, "cool, a snake and a ferret fight!"
And how many ferrets were bought for that purpose following the release
of that movie....

Bond movies are very, very popular and seen by mostly younger men who,
let's face facts people, commit most of the animal abuse cases. Don't
think that happens? There are a lot of people out there who wouldn't
think twice about harming an animal for entertainment. One of my
long-time friends worked at Petco for years and told me many many
horrible stories about what people wanted to feed their pet snakes and
reptiles....and many of these wonderful people told her that was the
reason they bought these pets in the first place, to watch them kill
and eat their prey.

Each time a very popular movie comes out with a specific breed of dog
or cat in it, everyone has to have one and most end up in shelters and
rescues about a year later. 101 Dalmatians, Snow Dogs, and the list
goes on an on......

Bond movies are still one of my favorite movies....one of my DMK's is
named, Bond James Bond, although I have not yet seen the one released
late last year.

Perhaps now you will see what I see when animals are portrayed as
"playthings" with no real value in movies and on t.v. shows. Whether or
not the animals used in production are harmed is not the only concern
for me although laws and agencies are in place to ensure their safety.
But IS the seed of abuse and harm to other animals because of that
media portrayal planted into those viewing the movie or show? And
that goes for any animal - dogs, cats, horses, mice, rats and
especially for my ever-favorite, ferret!

So the next time you see something in the media that could inspire
others to do harm to any animal, perhaps you too will be outraged and
use your power as consumer to tell the industry that promoting any
form of animal abuse is wrong and it will not be tolerated for any
animal.....

[Posted in FML 6255]