Edward Lipinski, Director of Ferrets North West Foundation said:
>//Answer// Indeed that is true. These ferrets are bred to be as
>uniform as possible (heavily inbred) and their life expectancy is less
>than a year, in some cases dying only hours after being asphxsiated by
>student nurses attempting to insert trachael tubes down ferrets'
>throats. These unfortunate creatures are not intended to be pets but
>instead intended to be merely a research vehicle that is classed as a
>"consumable".
-----------------------------------
Ed, the problem with statements of this sort are that people who read
them and recognize them as inaccurate will often infer the rest of your
ideas are just as misleading and biased. I know you enjoy people
thinking of you as a curmudgeon, but this type of public demagoguery
requires response. I ask you to defend your statements with confirmable
evidence.
1. Prove, using ANY reproducible genetic test, or supply research papers
from scientists that have done such work, that ANY commercial ferret has
been "bred to be as uniform as possible." I have seen thousands of
Marshall Farms ferrets, and they exhibit the range of color, size and
temperament displayed by those produced by ANY other breeder (including
yours, which I have also seen). Many win awards in regional ferret
shows, in direct competition with ferrets bred by private breeders. This
statement is so, um, inaccurate, it requires vigorous defense on your
part. PROVE IT!
2. What are the published references supporting your contention that
commercially bred ferrets have a "life expectancy is less than a year"?
All I can say is I was absolutely shocked to discover my many Marshall
Farms ferrets outlived their life-expectancy by 7, 8, and even 9 years.
Ed, the life expectancy of ferrets in the USA is between 5 and 7 years,
and if most of them, by your own words in the same post, are from
commercial breeders, then HOW on earth can they have a life expectancy of
less than a year? PROVE IT!
3. Supply confirmable statistics, reports, witnesses, or Humane Society
reports that large numbers of ferrets are "dying only hours after being
asphxsiated by student nurses attempting to insert trachael tubes down
ferrets' throats". I happen to be directly involved with issues of
animal research, serving as an animal advocate, and I have NEVER heard of
this type of animal cruelty taking place in modern America (post-1980s).
Are you certain these nurses weren't working for Nazi Germany back in
WWII? Maybe they work for some of the modern terrorist groups Bush can
bomb, but can't locate? PROVE IT!
Ed, I'll make a deal with you. PROVE any one of these statements using
established scientific criteria, and I'll publicly confirm your greatness
and wisdom. PROVE any two, and I'll fly out to Seattle and kiss your
hairy butt, allowing it to be photographed and published on the internet.
PROVE all three, and I'll fund your shelter for an entire year and call
you "Der Fretchenfuehrer." Are you courageous enough to take the same
bet, doing the same things if you CAN'T prove the statements?
I apologize to FML members for the tone of this post, but sometimes
outrageous hyperbole must be answered. I am NOT a Marshall Farms
advocate, finding many of their practices unethical at best, and immoral
at worst. But, if I want to decry commercial breeding practices, I
cannot violate evidentiary standards to do so. If what they are doing is
wrong, the evidence will support my objections. Resorting to hyperbole
and duplicity to prove my point makes me as unethical and immoral as they
are.
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 3859]
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