So have we perhaps tried, instead of hitting Marshall Farms up repeatedly
for small monetary donations or product donations, maybe asking them to
do one BIG thing for the ferret community?  Like a huge chunk of money
towards ADV research or adrenal studies or insulinoma studies?  Or a
large donation annually to SOS?  I know at my university they have a
central office that handles all the fundraising stuff and we have to go
through that office before we ask anyone for donations.  That way we
stand a better chance of a huge donation rather than nickle and diming
then to death.  Seems like Marshall Farms has as much an interest as we
do to see the end of ADV, adrenal disease and insulinoma.  And they can't
all be irresponsible animal haters.  With that many ferrets in one place
it would be impossible not to get sucked in and love them somehow.
 
Let's face it.  Many (or most) of us have or have had a Marshall Farms
ferret.  Many (if not most) of us have used a Marshall Farms product
or are still using one today.  We are their consumers.  We are their
customers.  So maybe instead of always jumping on them, we can come up
with a mutually agreeable, community responsible joint project between
those that breed and those that buy.  I would hesitate to think that by
boycotting Marshall Farms, we the FML will put them out of business.
There are too many people that buy ferrets that don't play on here with
us.  Those people will still buy the ferrets and the products that are
available and Marshall Farms is the most readily available (at least in
my area).  Perhaps a better choice for us would be to utilize the power
of Marshall Farms and use it for good.  Wouldn't it be lovely to be able
to pinpoint the cause of adrenal disease and insulinoma so that it could
be totally prevented.  Same thing for ADV and the host of other horrible
illnesses that our sweet babies get.  It is a wise business decision for
Marshall Farms to prevent these same diseases.  Have we tried playing
nice yet?
 
Anne
(lover of 8 Marshalls babies over the years acquired from stores and
shelters alike)
[Posted in FML issue 5313]