Sukie Crandall wrote:
 
>(We still have seen NO differences in the health of our Marshalls ones as
>opposed to the health of ones from other breeders we've used of any size
>[...] , but there are those we respect with shelter experience who say that
>MFs do not do as well in SHELTER settings.)
 
I agree completely.  I even have a theory about the shelter difference --
only a theory, with no solid evidence, but it sounds plausible to me.  I
think we can all agree that most ferrets bought from pet stores are from MF.
It seems likely that most people who buy a ferret on impulse buy it from a
pet store, not from a private breeder or a shelter.  I would suggest that
people who buy animals on impulse are, in general, also more likely to turn
their ferrets over to a shelter when the ferrets become old, sick, or
inconvenient.  This means that a disproportinate number of sick MF ferrets
will turn up in shelters: the ill private-breeder ferrets are being cared
for by their original owners.
 
Of course, all this is generalities and percentages.  Obviously, everyone on
this list cares a great deal for their ferrets, whether they originally came
from a private breeder after years of consideration or were picked up on a
whim at the local Acres-o-Pets.  However, we all know that there are pet
owners who aren't as conscientious as we are.
 
[log in to unmask] wrote:
 
>The fact is that the limited gene pool that was mentioned the other day
>would be perfect for experimental animales because science wants practical
>clones to do research on
 
Two problems here.  First, research does NOT want practical clones to do
research on.  If you're trying to figure out if some new cold medication
causes, say, kidney damage, the last thing you want is the possibility that
your test animals are all genetically predisposed to kidney problems.  If
you could get genetically "perfect" animals, with no defects or tendencies
to develop any disease, then a group of identical subjects would be great.
Roughly speaking, that's the case with the well-known white lab mice.
Otherwise, as with ferrets, what you want is as DIVERSE a group of animals
as possible, so that any effects of the genes wash out with a large enough
sample size.
 
Second, MF has on the order of 30,000 breeding ferrets.  Sure, that's a
limited gene pool, but it's not a particularly small one; I would guess,
with no criticism intended, that it's at least 100 times larger than the
effective gene pool available to any given private breeder.  If MF were
engaging in uncontrolled inbreeding or line-breeding -- and I have no reason
to think that they are -- that would be a problem, but the mere fact of a
limited genetic pool isn't.  Every gene pool is limited.
 
Marshall Farms does sell ferrets for medical research.  You can make your
own moral decisions about supporting the company on that basis.  To the best
of my knowledge, however, there is no reason to think that their ferrets are
any less healthy than any other ferrets who are spayed/neutered before
puberty.
 
--
- Pam Greene
Ferret Central <http://www.optics.rochester.edu:8080/users/pgreene/>
            or ftp://ftp.optics.rochester.edu/pub/pgreene/
            or send INDEX FERRET in email to <[log in to unmask]>
[Posted in FML issue 2102]