Yes, It is me who is supporting the sending of funds to the MAF for ferret
rabies research.
 
this is why:
 
1 - More ferrets will die from all the American public health officials than
are infected and killed by the CDC (not KSU) in a year than all the strains
MAF are funding total.  I have heard Dr. R of the CDC give the details, and
the ferrets are put down at the first sign of rabies infection to be tested
in the salivia and the brain to confirm rabies.  These infected and control
group ferrets are treated with the most care because this information will
not only help to save hundreds of innocent ferrets in the future, but also
confirm that bat rabies is NOT a threat to dogs and cats because all three
species show the same timeline for shedding the deadly virus.
 
2 - rabies is becoming more of a concern in the human community.  This is
because bats are becoming more of a rabies vector in the past.  Rather than a
mass extermination of bats in housing communities, which would impact nature
a lot more than most people care to realize, why not just know that bats can
not infect immunized pets and stop sacrificing innocent companion as well as
wild animals?  Bats can and do slip indooors, and this argument is being
widly used by pubnlic health as in the Kodo case and many, many others
since.  NO ONE knows the shedding period of an animal infected by a bat.
 
3 - Many of the ferrets used in the rabies studies are MF retired breeders.
These animals would have been put to death because of MF policies anyway, so
now they are making a contribution to all the pet ferrets in our homes and
in homes to come.  They would have died anyway.
 
4 - The Morris Animal Foundation is a facility that researches funding
proposals strictly for the benefit of the animals.  This is not a
testing-using-animals for human purposes, but a animal study for the ANIMALs
benefit.  The studies benefit no one but companion animals and their owners.
That is why I post the full address - so you can contact them about their
operations and know they are a legitimate group who cares for animals BEFORE
sending donations.
 
I personally do not believe in testing products on animals for human gain -
animals make lousy models for humans.  God made us all different for good
reasons.  I belong to more animal WELFARE groups than most pet owners, but I
do not believe in animal rights.  Letting mink loose to prevent them from
becoming pelts just to become road kill, die from the elements or starve
because their mothers could not be recaptured is CRUEL and INHUMANE in just
the same manner as the fur market.
 
If anyone wishes to contunue this discussion in private, I am willing to do
so, but not on the FML - I'm sure this will degenerate into rights vs welfare
and stray from the topic of ferrets.
 
Pamela Troutman Grant
[Posted in FML issue 2016]