I have six ferrets; two are Marshall Farms, the others were rescued.  At
one time I had fourteen ferrets, most of which I was foster parenting for
a breeder that had gone out of business.  I have lived through having to
choose to euthanize one of my babies because his quality of life was
non-existent.  Having every disease in the "ferret" book, it was selfish to
keep him alive.  Now after over two years of having ferrets in my life and
having found the FML a year and a half ago, I am canceling my subscription
to this mailing.
 
Several days ago I sent in a post to the FML that was taken from PETA's
homepage regarding Marshall Farms.  I had just stumbled across the
literature and thought ferret-people would find it interesting.  The result
was chaos.  I should have seen it coming, but unfortunately did not.  So I
ignored the FML for a few days and remained silent until I read a posting
from Zen and the art of ferrets.  In Zen's post they condemn PETA as a whole
for wanting to eliminate ferrets, all domestic animals, and captive breeding
programs.  Outraged by the right-wing B.S., I wrote a non-flaming response
to the ignorant accusations.  "In defense of PETA" was returned to me as not
being topical enough in regards to ferrets.  (If anyone would like to read
my post and continue the discussion in a free speech environment, please
feel free to e-mail me)
 
The FML moderator thanked me for my post which had "good info" and probably
would have "balanced things out", but most likely found it too political for
the FML and returned it to me.  One thing that has always disturbed me
regarding this newsgroup was how the majority of people discuss ferrets like
they were fuzzy toys and not life forms.  Every once in a while I read a
post from someone who seemed to genuinely care about ferrets as a species;
but they were few and far between.  Most talked about how much they loved
their ferrets wacky personalities, but did not condemn ferrets being
tortured in laboratories.  For the betterment of their own ferrets, they
tolerate vivisection of others.  "You can experiment on ferrets, just not
any of mine"; is a horribly apathetic way to think.  Sickening!  ALL ferrets
have wonderfully unique personalities.  One ferret whom you have never met
before, is just as precious as the ferret that is curled up in your lap
right now.  Would you allow your fuzzy to be tortured until death occurred.
That is what goes on with Marshall Farms ferrets who are not sold as pets.
How can anyone who claims to love ferrets say that what MF is doing is
acceptable, or at the very least shrug their shoulders and do nothing about
it.
 
Any way, the lack of free speech in this newsgroup and the majority of
subscribers who really don't care for ferrets as a whole, has caused me come
to the conclusion that I can't be a member any longer.  I am off to find a
newsgroup without a moderator that ends topics in mid-debate.
 
I will officially send in my "unsubscribe" e-mail once I have seen this has
been posted.  For those who will flame me, please feel free to CC me a copy.
I am not opposed to free thought and welcome all criticism (regardless of
how far it strays from the topic of ferrets).
 
Thanks for the informative info over the last year and a half.
 
William Irvine-May
 
[Moderator's note: The FML guidelines, which all subscribers receive when
their subscriptions are entered, state clearly that PETA (etc.) propaganda
and animal rights related posts ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE for the FML.
 
Why?  Certainly they are worthwhile issues, after all.  But invariably such
discussions quickly turn into flame fests which end up having absolutely
nothing to do with ferrets.  This list is about ferrets.  It is not about
lab rats, catheterized pregnant mares nor monkeys with AIDS.  It's not about
whether humans should avoid eating meat nor about deciding if dog sleds are
cruel.
 
OK, so why were PETA posts allowed at all?  And why is half of this issue
seemingly devoted to animal rights?
 
It starts innocently enough -- someone posts a PETA press release which
mentions ferrets.  That's acceptable since the subject is ferrets.  Then
people start commenting on the press release... it strays to PETA's attitude
about ferrets.  Then about PETA's attitude about pets.  Then about pets in
general.  Then someone insults PETA members.  Then people start posting
increasingly opinionated material from totally opposing viewpoints.
 
Anyhow, I stepped in when things were getting out of hand and posted the
following note in FML 2391:
 
>I think we're losing our focus here with all the PETA related posts.
>Again, please let me remind everyone that this list is specifically about
>*ferrets*.  The general PETA debate detracts from that, and future posts
>mentioning PETA will be sent back unless they are incredibly pertinent to
>ferrets.  ...
 
William's post arrived later that FML and much of it was opinion related
to PETA rather than opinion related to ferrets (at least how *I* read it).
I invited him to remove the PETA material and repost the ferret material.
 
With the PETA discussions behind us, many people continued to discuss how
ferrets are kept at Marshall's or how they are kept/used in labs.  Again,
this is ferret related and ok, but now this too is turning into one huge
flame fest and ferrets are no longer the focus.  So, time to step in again.
 
There are no winners here.  Like debates about abortion or gun control,
minds are already made up.  There are strong opinions on both sides which
aren't going to change based upon debates on the FML.  Purely informational
posts concerning ferrets' rights are OK, but there never will be extended
debate on such topics as long as I'm moderator of this list.
 
I'm sorry William feels his right of free speech is threatened and I'm not
happy about losing a long-time subscriber.  Nonetheless, I need to gently
remind subscribers that imposing guidelines on subjects focuses the list
and is necessary for the survival of any discussion list.  As long as a
post meets guidelines it WILL get posted, not matter how much I disagree
with it -- there is no censoring here.
 
I do note that I'm probably too liberal in accepting posts and I should
probably cut things off earlier.  Half this issue is proof of that.  I'll
soon set up facilities for people who have volunteered to help review posts.
Perhaps working together we'll be able to do better.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 2393]