>Marshall Farms only adds to the probability that these ferrets will have
>health problems by spaying them when they are 2-3 weeks old.  Do you know
>what a 2-3 week old ferret looks like??  It doesn't have fur or its eyes
>open.  I have heard reports from across the country of MF ferrets being
>delivered to pet stores before they have fur or teeth, and before their
>spay and neuter scars have closed up.  I have seen with my OWN EYES people,
>a batch of MF ferrets delivered to one local pet store where the ferret
>kits had not yet opened their eyes, and their spay wounds were fresh and
>some were infected.  When the store contacted Marshalls, they were told
>that if they shipped the too-young kits back, they would be replaced but
>the original kits would be "destroyed".  Needless to say, the store (which
>cares about animals unlike Marshall Farms staff) kept the babies and
>hand-fed them for several weeks until they were strong enough to be put
>out in the floor cages, and paid a hefty vet bill to get their incision
>infections cleared up.>
 
Thank you to all of those who voiced support regarding the atrocities at
MF!  Heather, you and I need to get together and chat, maybe you and I can
find a way to change these things.  Very well-written post with excellent
insight in to why the health problems are prevalent.  I am not happy to
find out that you, too, have experienced the shipping of ferrets far too
young (not happy but somewhat relieved to find out that it is obviously
not just MY area with this problem).  Oh, your email raised another
question in my mind: Does MF practice poor breeding because they know that
if ferrets die at an earlier age, people are likely to adopt again, thus
increasing profits?  Everyone knows that people who have ferrets are
likely to get more when others pass on.  These animals are so addicting!
 
>Marshall's has been contacted by mail and e-mail many times, by concerned
>ferret owners asking them to please stop their unsafe inbreeding practices,
>and asking them to please make an effort to breed their pet line as a
>disease-free line.  I know - I'm one of the people who has sent Marshall's
>many a pleading letter asking them to be more careful in their breeding
>process.  No one that I know of has ever received the courtesy of a
>response from Marshall's in response to any of this.  Marshall's does not,
>anywhere, go on record denying any of this, either.  They just bank on the
>fact that most ferret owners like yourselves will read their website, their
>sweet little story on their bags of food, and rely on their "one-year
>guarantee of health" that comes with your ferret, and believe that your pet
>came from a company that cares.
 
AMEN!  You have experienced EXACTLY the same thing as I.  MF does not
respond to emails nor do they answer questions that I ask.  The next step
I am taking is writing a detailed letter to the President of MF regarding
ALL my experiences, particularly the last one I had with the "higher-up".
Perhaps when the President of MF finds out that one of its "higher-up"
employees has bashed another pet food manufacturer and has also denied
the shipping woes I have witnessed, then I will get a response.  It is
doubtful, but I will try.  Great point about he fact they don't respond
or dispell what people have said.  I wonder if there is a reason why?
Perhaps it is as I have suggested...responding in writing would set them
up for legal problems since they cannot deny what has gone on.
[Posted in FML issue 3622]