I, too, saw the James Bond movie, Casino Royale, and was visibly horrified at the portrayal of the ferret-mongoose-weasel vs snake gambling event in the early part of the movie. Thankfully, I saw this movie at home on pay-per-view and so no one but my family witnessed my horror, then anger, then disgust. It really doesn't matter if it was a ferret or a mongoose in that scene - but what WAS important was the movie industry again displaying any animal or animals in a fight-to-the-death game for money. How many times does this occur each and every year! Yeah, its easy to say that "well, it's just a movie or a t.v. show and not real life." Really? The main reason I was horrified and outraged was not so much the portrayal of the fight itself -- although the animal rights activist part of me was absolutely furious about that - but that the movie may have inspired others to mimic that scene and decide, "hey! that looks like fun, let's do that too!" And what makes you think those people knew the difference between a mongoose and a ferret! All those idiots saw was, "cool, a snake and a ferret fight!" And how many ferrets were bought for that purpose following the release of that movie.... Bond movies are very, very popular and seen by mostly younger men who, let's face facts people, commit most of the animal abuse cases. Don't think that happens? There are a lot of people out there who wouldn't think twice about harming an animal for entertainment. One of my long-time friends worked at Petco for years and told me many many horrible stories about what people wanted to feed their pet snakes and reptiles....and many of these wonderful people told her that was the reason they bought these pets in the first place, to watch them kill and eat their prey. Each time a very popular movie comes out with a specific breed of dog or cat in it, everyone has to have one and most end up in shelters and rescues about a year later. 101 Dalmatians, Snow Dogs, and the list goes on an on...... Bond movies are still one of my favorite movies....one of my DMK's is named, Bond James Bond, although I have not yet seen the one released late last year. Perhaps now you will see what I see when animals are portrayed as "playthings" with no real value in movies and on t.v. shows. Whether or not the animals used in production are harmed is not the only concern for me although laws and agencies are in place to ensure their safety. But IS the seed of abuse and harm to other animals because of that media portrayal planted into those viewing the movie or show? And that goes for any animal - dogs, cats, horses, mice, rats and especially for my ever-favorite, ferret! So the next time you see something in the media that could inspire others to do harm to any animal, perhaps you too will be outraged and use your power as consumer to tell the industry that promoting any form of animal abuse is wrong and it will not be tolerated for any animal..... [Posted in FML 6255]