It is still not clear if Marshall EVER did apply for such a facility in
France, or if this action simply prevented an expansion which had not
been considered.
 
Received today from AVAR:
 
>Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 12:32:01 -0800
>To: Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
>From: AVAR <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: NEED confirmation or denial
 
>Dear Sukie: We were asked by PETA to send a letter to someone in France
>(can't remember who) regarding the expansion of Marshall Farms. We did not
>do any investigation into the proposed expansion ourselves. We would have
>no reason to believe that Marshall Farms was not planning to expand or that
>PETA would make it up. In fact, a meeting was held in France with various
>individuals from the states and French officials regarding this matter. We
>were invited to attend but could not afford to go. Other animal protection
>organizations did attend.
 
>I am curious as to why you would question whether Marshall Farms was
>planning to expand. This doesn't seem a bit odd to me. They are one of, if
>not the largest, ferret producers in the world. They employ laypersons to
>sterilize the ferrets. I have confirmed this with the USDA. As to the other
>reasons PETA opposed the Marshall Farms expansion, I can only say that we
>agree with them that Marshall Farms is using ferrets and beagles, in
>particular, to sell for research. We are opposed to this and would actively
>oppose such efforts. Teri
 
My reply:
 
Teri,
 
What was under question, and remains under question is more if PETA might
have made the rumor up.  They simply have not EARNED trust in the ferret
community so their word is NOT automatically taken for granted anymore.
 
Reasons Marshall might not apply for such an expansion include possibly
more violence among animal mill opposition groups in Europe, the cost and
logistics of going international when it possibly would be cheaper to
expand into a poor area of the U.S.  and ship, the medical considerations
of operating such facilities in multiple countries.
 
It is certainly possible that they WERE trying to go international but so
far NO support for that claim has been found.  At first I believed it right
off the bat, too, but then people in France couldn't find the paper trail
which should have existed.  Putting that along with other experiences of
PETA readily giving out false information about ferrets (such as their
assertions that they are wild, that they should all be turned loose, that
they spread rabies, etc.) led me to suspect that there might have been
nothing to it beyond a monetarily useful rumor (within a group which
normally does not give to PETA due to it's false statements about ferrets).
That suspicion could certainly be completely wrong, of course -- hence, the
continuing attempts to verify which still have had no success.
 
If the assumption was that PETA was must be making this up then
verification would not even be attempted; the same problem exists from
either direction, and MF certainly does not stand along in that industry
nationally or internationally -- with some of it's opposition having what
may well be worse track records if not their huge size.
 
Data never hurts; verifying is just applying the information precautions
of science to other fora.
 
DO YOU KNOW A WAY FOR ME TO VERIFY THIS DIRECTLY WITH THE OFFICIALS IN
FRANCE?  That could put the issue the question to bed once and for all,
one way or the other?  Name(s) and work address(es) of involved French
government officials would be most useful.  An address going through a
third party (such as PETA) would not since the point is verification.
 
Obviously, we are in agreement on issues which involve abuse.
 
Thanks so much for your time!
 
[Moderator's note: There are further posts about this issue which will
appear tomorrow.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 2912]