From the 3/27 edition of the Elyria, OH, Chronicle:
"Suit to decide if feed killed ferrets, Willow Hill, PA (AP)"
 
Now to summarize the article (Bill likes summaries, don't ya, Bill? :-))
 
In 1991, Path Valley Farms, once the largest breeder of pet ferrets in the
country, asked Agway Inc to formulate a better tasting food for their
ferrets. Previously, they had used mink pellets from Agway. Months later,
breeding ferrets started losing teeth. Later, jaws collapsed in pregnant
females and babies were born deformed. Vets found no signs of genetic or
other diseases, and Agway insisted their food pellets were fine. Agway
suggested eliminating the meat that was mixed with the ferret pellets.
Trustingly, Path Valley did so. "That's when all hell broke loose", said
co-owner Lynn "Fox" Morton. By 1993, they had lost 3000 females.
 
Path Valley is now suing Agway for $5.6 million. The article says "Although
they may recover financially, they will never recover emotionally."
 
The article describes ferrets as "wiry, multicolored cousins of weasels,
skunks and otters" that "have become popular pets in the past decade". There
is a picture of a woman showing off the missing teeth in a sable ferret.
 
Does anyone know any more about this horrific story?
 
Linda, Richard, Joy (who started crying when I read the article to her), and
Belle (who we didn't even mention this to)
[Posted in FML issue 1150]