Diane and Bill wrote:
>Our information comes from private conversations with Dr. Judi Bell among
>others there.  Who is the veterinarian that you spoke to?  Are their
>records proving he or she worked there?  We talked to Dr. Bell while she
>was in her office on the farm.
 
Also, Judi left there for a university post a good long while ago, now.
 
>Having a vet on call is probably more than most most ranches have.  But
>you allude to multiple vets.
 
Last I heard PV has one on call rather than right on site for when needed.
That may have changed since then; haven't discussed this with them in a
while.  The others I don't know about, though I have heard reports of a
mid-sized one (which is not in operation as was) that had as little vet
care as a poor mink ranch years ago.  MF has it's problems, but so do the
rest and some have more.  Personally, I tend to think of MF and PV as
different but with different short-comings and strengths that balance them
out, and I know there are worse ones out there.
 
Scott wrote:
>It is easy to shout BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT -- as long as no one thinks of the
>real-life ramifications of what that would actually mean.  Does anyone
>who is really and honestly a lover of ferrets (or any other life, for
>that matter) want to return to the Draconian methods of rabies testing?
>Remember, that means taking a ferret accused of drawing blood by design or
>accident and cutting off their head to test the brain for the rabies virus.
 
The rabies viral shedding studies saved more ferrets in a few months than
were used in the studies.
 
MF through their in-house vet at that time, Judi Bell,and their own
cprporate funding, did much of the preliminary work which allowed ferrets
to have an effective rabies vaccine.  They have also donated to projects
which improve ferret health care options.
 
Don't forget that they also have helped with multiple legislation
campaigns.  Yes, those help them but they also help all of us.
 
Do they have improvements to make?  Of course!  Are they the Devil
Incarnate?  Not by a long shot.
 
>It is time to stop the "beat MF at any cost" mentality.  The truth is they
>are neither good nor bad, they just are.  Yes, they should be held to
>standards and punished when they don't uphold those standards.  But, they
>should not be subjected to lies and deliberate misinformation campaigns.
>Enough is enough already.
 
Exactly, and well put!
[Posted in FML issue 3446]