Ok, I won't TOO strenuously defend Marshall Farms here.  But after viewing
the pictures, reading both communiques and reading a couple others'
responses to them, I'd like to address some of the issues.
 
First, the lack of bedding: Judging by the way the cages are set up, with
a box, high on all sides, filled with something that looks more like the
stuff they keep ferrets in at Petco than litter, and the "catch tray"
apparatus under each cage, I'm going to make a guess: Those "litter boxes"
are their beds, and they are intended to use their cages as litter boxes.
While certainly, this is not ideal, consider the cost mearly of laundering
thousands of blankets daily.  We all know how hard it can be to keep up on
our own small groups of ferrets bedding wise.  And a box with high sides
seems quite obviously not intended as a litter box.  As I said, not ideal,
but considering economic factors, I am satisfied with that.  As far as bad
habits, the litter training might be a problem, but the sleeping in boxes?
I don't know.  The only "litter box" any of mine ever slept in was a
modified plastic shoe box that I quickly removed the litter from and added
a blanket so they COULD sleep in it.  It is one of my girls favorite
places to sleep, and if she likes it better than a hammock, it doesn't
bother me.
 
The diarreah: Consider how many ferrets are kept in each of these cages,
and how young they are.  I have always noticed that the younger a ferret
is, the looser their stool.  The feces is not seedy or discolored, so
there is little chance of it being the result of a bacterial infection.
Also, while ALF sites specific bacterial problems in the beagels, they do
not say anywhere that such was the case with the ferrets.  Considering
numbers, it looks like those cages were fairly recently cleaned.  With
that many individuals in a cage, daily cleaning in the morning would
explain that amount of feces late at night.  The cages containing
individual ferrets were quite clean as near as I can tell, and those
ferrets also appeared to be somewhat older, (though that may be a trick
of scale,) and would not have quite as loose a stool, nor would one
ferret produce that much matter in a short length of time.
 
Automated feeding: The water is obviously piped in, but without pictures
of the actual device which automates feeding, I find it hard to believe
that those particular food containers are not filled by hand as they
become low.
 
Ferrets getting loose: Oh come now.  Is it such a stretch that ferrets get
loose from their cages??  Considering the number of ferrets there, even 30
or 40 getting loose in one night would not surprise me.  I see less than
10 numbers on that board.  Many of us have been in similar positions,
with one or two ferrets letting themselves out, and we all know how hard
it is to recover them if they get too interested in the outside.  I'm sure
Marshall Farms does what they can to keep a handle on the situation, and
it must be quite a job!
 
The dumping is irresponsible to say the least, obscene to say the worst.
That is one point I am enraged about.  The only other things which enrage
me, and frightens me as well, are statements made by the ALF.
 
"As can be seen in the pictures, the ferrets are bred and raised in
masses...Some--perhaps with specific genetic strains to be used in
experiments, judging by their unique colors--are kept isolated in single
cages with UPC codes identifying them."
 
Ferrets raised in masses?  Goodness NO!  Lets not do that.  Of course ALF
doesn't know that ferrets prefer it that way.  Someone ought to educate
them.  As to the unique colors bit, we can safely assume that these
ferrets are tracked because patterning can be directly related to certain
genetic disease.  Whether these ferrets are meant for pet stores or
research, I think it keenly responsible for MF as a breeder to track these
individuals.
 
They go on to say "In addition to the animal sheds, the concentration camp
also has several large offices, living quarters for staff, and a parking
lot full of cars.  All of these are possible targets of future attacks,
which could come at day or at night."
 
Will anyone on this list condone the type of action these people are
implying??  THE LIVING QUARTERS OF STAFF ARE TARGETS??  I would quickly
disassociate myself with any group who made such a statement!!
 
While I am not entirely happy with the pictures I saw, I do not find
them good evidence that anything MF has told us is untrue, and I advise
everyone to inspect those photos before jumping to conclusions.  Also,
don't trust ALF's assesment of the situation, as they have even admitted
being unfamiliar with ferrets.
 
Melissa Barnes
Mira, Tasha, Robin, Samuri, Nietzsche and O'Dell
[Posted in FML issue 3654]