Of the farms MF (years ago when the USDA inspection reports were
readily available) consistently did better than the other farms for
which I saw inspection reports. If they still do then they would
serve their own interests by making those reports and photos of their
conditions readily available since what people imagine is often so much
worse than reality once a place has been vilified without proof, but
they have a tradition of not making those available so I doubt it will
happen. Does that mean that farms are great? Obviously, it does not and
it never could. Compared to good private breeders probably all farms
are worse. Compared to bad private breeders (often called "backyard
breeders") some of the farms are distinctly better, though some are
just as bad. Good breeders being better than even the best farms does
mean that public perception is not always accurate, though.

It may be useful for some industrious person to seek current USDA
inspection reports -- and not one of the over-worked people who
normally do that since it is time for some younger people to make
themselves stars through their hard work.

I don't know how MF is since the elder Marshalls retired. There was
actually a pretty decent commitment to ferret health there in the
latter part of those years, with a lot of their own money going
into improving veterinary knowledge of ferrets and even into better
legislation in multiple FFZs (many of which are no longer FFZs since
the more complete knowledge about rabies). Did that stop them from
suffering from bad rumors? Nope.

Back then there was one man who ran a "newsletter" which had a mix of
real news and faked news. In fact, I was one of the people from whom he
faked an article. At the time I was carrying accurate reports to the
FML from state public health vets about how they were improving their
approaches toward ferrets after CDC research allowed the Compendium for
Animal Rabies Control to permit ferrets to be handled the same way as
cats and dogs after biting instances. A veterinary charity, the Morris
Animal Foundation, needed that data and as I collected it for them on a
volunteer basis it was shared with the FML. Those who were not around
for all the needless ferret deaths back then do not realize what a huge
deal that was in terms of helping ferrets. Anyway, the man who was
running that newsletter wrote a fake article with wrong "information"
in his newsletter and attached my name to it as the supposed author. I
had to threaten a lawsuit with the request of him doing public service
hours in MY state while living at his own expense for punishment to
get him to remove the piece. Horrid man. He'd done that to a number of
other people, too, including multiple vets, writing incorrect fiction
and attaching their names. He was the one who began the diatribes about
MF. He mixed fact with complete fabrications.

Again, I am not saying that farms are great, that is obvious. I am
saying that if someone assumes that if they read something bad about
another farm and then wonder if that means MF is worse, that they need
to realize that the public vendetta against MF did NOT begin because
they were worse than other farms because back then the reports could
be gotten showed that they actually were better although larger, not
worse. I don't know how they are these days, but compared with many
farms they will still have better infrastructure in place, like their
heated and cooled buildings, and their record keeping which varies
which buildings' ferrets can be bred with each other to reduce strong
inbreeding (though the original stock was limited genetically, and that
is true for many U.S. ferrets in general). Even one of PETA's own slide
shows of MF -- in the past -- showed that they protected ferret's feet,
had cages on solid surfaces when kits were present, supplied nesting
boxes when kits were present, and had white boards to keep track of
essentials. So, yes, there will be things that are questionable, like
having techs do neutering and descenting (which my spelling program
wants to change to decanting -- which is what happens when an
undescented ferret poofs :-) ).

MF used to insist on selling their kits at no younger than 8 weeks of
age decades ago. That changed when Path Valley (which does not breed
for research or fur) entered the pet supply market with 5 and 6 week
old kits. PV also popularized a number of the fancy ferrets while
private breeders popularized others and some of the same ones. Some
of the fancies have serious genetic health burdens in a number of the
ferrets of those types. I do not know what PV's conditions are like
now. Way back then they had a heated and cooled building and a barn,
but that was a long time ago. Some farms don't even have a barn, and
don't have even heating and cooling.

MF used to originally just breed for research use (and was not a fur
farm) until Wendy Winstead convinced the elder Marshalls to enter the
pet business, and after that fewer of their ferrets wound up in the
research supply stream. There still are some farms which supply only
research, and some others which supply both. For example, you will
find Triple F listed as a supplier of research ferrets, too, in federal
listings for who bought which federal permits/licenses and in corporate
supply listings, so do online searches and expect that search to get
convoluted when you do it in depth.

Years ago -- and i have not verified this so treat it with a BOULDER OF
SALT -- I was told by someone who was then an employee at Path Valley
that Triple F began as a fur farm. I do NOT know if that is correct. I
do know that decades ago in the U.S. a number of fur farm owners did
enter the pet market and that a number of their ferrets were typically
unhealthy and short lived. Whether Triple F was one of those even *if*
it was a fur fur, I don't know.

Carolina Ferrets needed to move several times and there are past FML
post on some troubles there which you can find by going to:

<http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/SCRIPTS/WA-FERRET.EXE?S1=ferret-search>
 and putting
"Carolina Ferrets"
in the string box, then searching and reading

I personally would not want to buy a Carolina Ferret, given photos and
text they had up themselves of their conditions in the past, given the
USDA non-compliance issue discussed on the FML in the past, and given
some of the types of genetic variants they showed in their own photos
in the past and the serious medical consequences which can go with
choosing to breed such variants. That is just me.

Another farm from which I would not want to buy at this time is
Canadian Ferrets. There has been a serious infectious disease problem
mentioned in too many posts involving too many ferrets from there for
my taste.

Steve and i have never had a Triple F ferret as far as we know. Things
just never felt right about them for us.

People can find private breeders through the AFA and see if they are
keeping sufficient health and longevity records. If extreme claims are
made such as no cases of adrenal disease or insulinoma then those are
people whose claims I personally would find very hard to credit without
extensive proof, and I think I'd look at alternative breeders. Remember
that the breeders need to track the ferrets who leave their homes as
well as possible, too, not just the ones they personally keep.

http://www.ferret.org/

A few tidbits:

our own longest lived ferret came from a farm that no longer exists

when we first had ferrets we learned of a private breeder whose ferrets
lived to be only about 2 years of age -- now that's a "backyard
breeder" for you

one private breeder years ago was selling pale orange ferrets for a
premium and turned out to be giving albinos food mixed with something
that dyed the skin oils -- I want to say it was marigold petals but am
not sure any longer -- so once off the diet they again became albinos
which she then said was an age related change

one of the Southern farms forced to close years ago had outdoor rusted
wire cages with pigs roaming around beneath to eat the waste -- a very
bad situation including for creation of influenza variants

Of course, there were other past horrific situations discussed on the
FML, both defunct farms and private breeders who had their ferrets
removed due to abuses, add well as distributors closed. In some states
it is easier to go after such people and companies than in other
states. The FML Archives has a lot on those.

Anyone who has been around for any length of time has recollections and
stories on this regard.

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 7174]