I agree that Marshalls is not the best, but they are not the worst
either.  About two years my fiance and I were called by our local Petco.
We work well with this store, and they are very good about making sure
the ferrets as well as the other animals are well taken care of, and
since working with the staff they are very pro educate concerning the
ferrets.  They always recommend Ferrets for Dummies before people
purchase their ferrets, as well as the better foods.  Sorry for the
background, but I figured it would help people understand.  When one
of the Petco employees called us, they asked us to come in and look at
their new shipment of ferrets.  Whenever they call us to come in, they
have an issue with ferrets.
 
Well we got called in because Petco in our district had changed from
Marshalls to Triple F farms.  All the ferrets they had got in at this
store and the others in the district were not socialized.  All the
ferrets that came in were some sort of blaze, though not really true to
form.  The great majority of them were deaf, and had major biting issues.
The staff was working with them, but there was two we ended up taking at
separate times due to severe issues.  One was bought and returned at
their store at least twice, and the other was brought over from another
store and had been returned from what they could figure out at least
three times.  For these two ferrets we were pretty much their last
chance, so they called us to take them.
 
We worked with them, and they rarely nip anymore, and they do not go for
blood anymore.  These ferrets even at the age of two have never been a
healthy weight, and stay very thin.  They both have very little muscle
on their frame compared to our Marshall ferrets.  The female is already
showing signs of adrenal, and both of them when we take them to the vet
for their check up in the next month or two will have x-rays done on
their jaws since we are pretty sure they are malformed.  The only way
we can keep meat on their bones is to feed them duck soup as their main
source of nutrition.  Dry food they can not eat enough to keep any weight
on since it is hard for them to chew the food.
 
Right after this shipment from Triple F and the issues they had, they
went back to Marshalls.  Now I am not saying that Marshalls is a great
ferret farm by any means, but the great majority of ferrets that come
into the store from them are at the very least socialized.  I agree that
they have a long way to go, but they are not the worst ferret farm by any
means.  I do agree that the best way to improve the spay/neuter age is
to lobby the state and get a law passed with an age restriction in your
state.  Try to work with the pet store employees, and educate them.  Most
of the people will listen if you are polite, and treat them with respect.
We are allowed in the back room at any time at our local Petco and they
always call us to ask us advice if anything out of the ordinary comes up.
The employees work to get the older ferrets out before the babies, and
most of all they do not sell a ferret to just anyone who walks in the
door.
 
As for Peta, I believe they do as much harm as good.  I remember hearing
a story years ago about them releasing all the minks from a mink farm
into the wild.  Now I do not support mink farming what so ever, but what
Peta did was wrong.  They released hundreds, if not thousands of these
minks into the wild, and the great majority of them died before they were
recaptured due to the inability to survive in the wild.  When the animal
control caught what few remained, they had no choice but to return them
to the mink farmer since they were to aggressive to be domesticated and
at least the would get the basic necessities versus dying of starvation
or being killed by predators.  There are many more stories like this, and
though I agree that what the mink farmers do is not right, the only way
to solve the problem is to get people not to buy fur coats.  It is all a
matter of supply and demand.
 
The same goes for any of the major ferret farms.  If we as a society do
not buy ferrets from these places, and either adopt from shelters or
support good private breeders, then they won't mass produce the ferret.
Unfortunately since there are not enough good private breeders
everywhere, I don't see this happening anytime soon.  Yes, I agree that
Marshalls has responsibility and should support shelters more, at the
same time they are a business and like all businesses they are going to
look at their profit.  They do make products for sell but I would guess
from the normal retail market if something that sells for $3.00, they
probably sell it for a dollar and only make at most a seventy cent profit
once you subtract manufacturing and shipping costs.  Yes they do not
donate all the time, but realistically they can only right off so much to
charity a year and once they reach that point they are going to draw the
line.  What we need to do as a community is support our local shelter
which ever way we can.  This is just my two cents for what its worth.
[Posted in FML issue 5312]