Dear Editor,  [of that Spokane rag... BIG]
 
I believe an article was published that did not go through the proper
channels to be authorized for publication.  I am referring to the article by
Doug Clark entitled "Ferret killings awful but not murder".
 
I am NOT an animal activist.  I like animals but I personally would not put
one above my child.  Nor am I a vegetarian.  Before I go on, I just want you
to know that I'm not a 'raging animal activist.'
 
Now I realize that killing an animal may not be on the same level as killing
a person, but if you were to look at only the dollar value of the animals,
you are looking at a minimum of $9300 worth of animals.  This is at the
price of $100 each as if they were bought from a store as a pet.  Breeding
ferrets cost even more.  I do not own any breeder ferrets, so I could only
guess at the cost.
 
I am not as attached to my animals as are many people.  I cried when I had
to have my dog put to sleep, even though she was blind, deaf and in pain.  I
do not put any animal above my children.  I love and care for my pets, but
that is what they are to me....pets.  They are not my children.
 
But with all of that said, I am offended by Doug Clarks article.  He made
light of these people's pain and suffering.  How dare he show up and act as
if he cared and then turn around and write such a rude and insensitive
article!  Mr. Clark mentions Princess Diana in this article which, in a
twisted way, is ironic because he acted just like those media hounds that
chased Diana to her death.
 
If Mr. Clark had showed up on time and seen the beginning of the vigil, he
may have thought and written differently.  Though, I'm not sure when I look
at some of the things he wrote:
 
***a stocky man read a poem
---What does his body type have to do with anything?
 
***I'm not positive, but I think if you look in the book of Revelation,
   ferret vigils are sandwiched between famine and earthquakes as a sign of
   theapocalypse.
---This is just a rude statement used to fill space in what would otherwise
   be a very short article. The use of the bible in this statement is also
   OFFENDING.
 
***moves from legitimate sorrow into the wacky world of animal rights
   extremism.
---Is Mr. Clark such a bad journalist that he must stoop to name calling?
   (wacky)
 
***I say you could kill off every freaking ferret on the planet and never
   come close to matching the value of a single human life.
---Freaking ferret? That is just a politically correct way of saying
   "f**king ferret" and it is an offending statement.  If we are talking
   about the value of Mr. Clark's life, I'd have to say that after this
   article hit the stands, Mr. Clark's value plummeted to that of an amoeba.
 
***No, Jean. This is more like coming home and discovering some fiend has
   wiped out your livestock.
---This is a direct statement to the poor woman that came home to discover
   those screaming animals.  It is rude and offending.  Just because she
   breeds and sells animals, does not mean the breeders are not her pets.  I
   have a pure breed Dachshund and we love him.  We also plan on breeding
   him when he becomes old enough.  At that time, does he just become
   "livestock?" Not any more than when your daughter marries and gives birth
   to the first grandchild.
 
***although their cloying musky odor drives me away.
---This is just another of his inflammatory remarks designed to make the
   slaughter seem less heinous.
 
***Anyone who buys that must think Hong Kong is about to commit another
   Holocaust.
---Excuse me?  He's trying to compare the brutal torture-killing of pets to
   the desperate actions of a government that is trying to save its people
   from a horrible illness?  And on another note, the OWNERS of the chickens
   are destroying them.  Jean did not in any way authorize the destruction
   of her ferrets, which were not causing any illness to anyone.  And I
   might not know a lot about history...but if "Hong Kong is about to commit
   *another* Holocaust," when exactly did it commit its first Holocaust?
 
***I doubt Spokane has enough candles to hold a proper chicken vigil.
---Again, excuse me? Chickens raised for food are in a different category
   than ferrets raised and bred as pets. I'd have a different view point if
   the ferrets had been raised for human consumption, but they weren't, so
   only an ignorant person would judge the two incidents to be similar.
 
I believe that Mr. Clark should be put on some type of suspension that
requires that all of his articles are reviewed before publication.  He is a
cruel and insensitive man that has no business doing human interest stories.
 
Christine McGraw
Managing Editor/Graphic Design Artist
D&S Digital Creations - An Internet Website Design and Hosting Business
http://www.cmaxxx.com/welcome
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[Posted in FML issue 2173]