On behalf of the League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts, the following letter and fax went out to CBS today, in response to the May 31 CBS This Morning segment on domestic ferrets. June 4, 1995 Ingrid Cipriani-Matthes Senior Producer CBS This Morning CBS Broadcast Center 524 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 Dear Ms. Cipriani-Matthes: The League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts, an association of clubs and rescue shelters representing thousands of domestic ferret owners, considers the Hattie Kaufman report on domestic ferrets that aired on your program on May 31, 1995 to be a gratuitously vicious piece of cheap sensationalism, riddled with distortions and inaccuracies, and unworthy of any responsible news organization. Your cynical exploitation of the Bowers child's deformities--with no reference to the enormous questions the case raises about where the infant's parents were when the alleged attack took place, why the child is now in the legal custody of her grandmother, and how many hundreds of thousands of children are seriously injured by dogs and cats each year, in comparison to the extremely small number of ferret-related injuries--was particularly reprehensible. One can only conclude that CBS News, in a desperate quest to shore up its sagging ratings, has adopted "National Enquirer" and P.T. Barnum as its role models. But debasing your journalistic standards will succeed only in alienating more viewers, further eroding your credibility, and prompting viewers to turn elsewhere for news--a fact we shall convey directly to the sponsors. Sincerely, Howard Davis Humane Affairs Coordinator League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts [Posted in FML issue 1216]