I happened across their ad today while I was in the college library looking
for stuff on rabies.  I didn't find it particularly offensive.  Ferrets are
used for lab work, as are dogs, mice, rats, etc, etc.  I don't like it, but
a certain amount of animal research has it's place in science.  When
practical substitutes are available, I would rather see the alternative used
than a lab animal.  I don't want to get into a extended discussion on animal
research here, I don't think this is the place for it.
 
What I found interesting about the ad was that it touted the small size of
their ferrets (as opposed to someone elses ferrets) as a bonus, because you
could house more animals in less space.  So then, it sounds like they breeed
for small size.  I was wondering if anyone could comment on whether MF
ferrets tend to be smaller than other suppliers?  I had thought this was
linked to early altering, rather than selective breeding.  I'm also
wondering if they breed two groups of ferrets, one for labs and one for the
pet industry, or if they are all 'interchangable'.  If the second is the
case, I'd expect their ferrets to all be smaller, as opposed to selective
breeding only the 'lab' group for small size.
 
-Ilena Ayala & the two MF "'mini's" =
 
Rabies Resources for Ferret Lovers are at:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ilena/rabies.htm
 
Katie: It's not the size of a ferrets that matters, it's how much
       personality we pack!
Polly: Yeah! Size isn't everything!
[Posted in FML issue 2001]