Sharon wrote:
>Marshal Farms is and will continue to be a hot subject.  On another related
>subject; I recently received some literature from PETA that sited "true
>cases" of animal abuse (not from MF).  The cases were, in fact, true just
>a little old (like 20+years).
 
and in a recent check on a ferret factory's/major breeder's/mill's (pick
your term according to your own conclusions since I don't want the point
missed due to wording) supposed planned European branch report from PETA:
no truth could be found in it.  Now I know that "Absence of evidence is not
evidence of absence.", but one does learn to weigh cumulative errors and
PETA is the same group which said that ferrets are wild animals which
should be turned loose and that they spread rabies (as recently as in a
magazine last (?) year), so while I don't automatically throw away what
they say, when I have to weigh their reports against those from other
places I don't give them more credence than I do those on the other side
with a similar track record for accuracy.  That is despite PETA's "focus"
since I've seen many animal charities which are less noisy, but are far
more accurate and more effective tackling animal issues than PETA has been
from a ferret-lover's point of view, and the point of view of someone who
knows folks in World Wildlife, Conservation International, etc.  Therefore,
if you get this latest rumor that France will be seeing such a breeding
branch wait until there's more known from a source which is actually
reliable before getting too worried or -- better yet -- ASK an authority in
that area to find out if you can learn the absolute latest for all of us
(including me, since I know that things DO change over time), but do not
accept the rumor at face value.  (In all fairness, I do think PETA has done
a better job of getting many to not wear fur coats than other places have
done (important), but such publicity is where they seem strongest to me so
that makes sense from my personal point of view.)
 
In short, don't automatically discount things, but also don't automatically
accept them, either.  Instead, CHECK and consider your sources.  (Oh, and
since I can't recall when that article was check me, too, by going through
the FML back issues search feature.  Heck, check me even if I do recall
when such things happened.  It's good for all of us, including me.)
[Posted in FML issue 2721]