To Ferretphiliacs Hither, Thither, and Yon,
 
I, Edward Lipinski, approach this posting with some deep trepidation, for
what I shall be writing here following will likely be met with disbelief
and disgust.
 
I have a friend who is a businessman involved in the manufacture of ferret
goods.  For reasons that should be obvious I am not able to identify this
businessman, because to do so would most certainly affect his business
associations with Marshall Farms and with other mass breeder companies.
 
As most of us know, MF is supporting pro-ferret legislative politicking in
Granola land (Land of Fruits, Nuts and Flakes) for reasons that are to
benefit ultimately the $ profit to be gleaned from California, following the
legalization of the ferret.  MF needs a west-coast director to handle the
business that will be mushrooming there upon legalization of the ferret.
Several select individuals, intimately associated with the ferret trade (not
restricted to the pet side only) have already been interviewed for this
potentially lucrative directorship, my businessman friend among them.  The
selection process involves a tour of MF facilities and an outline of the MF
business plan.  The discussions I've had with this businessman upon his
return to a west-coast city following his tour of MF have been revealing of
some (not all) MF business practices.
 
Obviously I am not a liberty to discuss on a public forum the factual
information that has come to me, because to do so may identify the source
and result in possible legal proceedings detrimental to both his and my
welfare.
 
Therefore I write in generalities about a few tidbits of information
concerning pet ferrets.  Please be aware that this information is over a
year old.
 
The officers at MF are well aware of the attacks upon their industry, as we
see so often posted here and on other venues.  The response is: The more
complaints they endure may cause them to retaliate against ferret owners by
ceasing completely all USA pet ferret sales and instead redirecting that
portion of ferrets normally dedicated to pet store sales to the animal
testing labs and other live animal consumpters.  In other words, simply
stated: Shut up or we'll sell nothing but lab ferrets and see how you like
that, your knowing full well that your complaints will be responsible for
increased "utilization" (sic) suffering of the ferret in greater numbers in
even more product testing labs and other places (?).  It appears that MF is
certain it will remain fiscally healthy without dependence upon pet ferret
sales.
 
Ferret neutering and scent gland/scent liquid storage sack excision is done
on an assembly-line basis on kits about 4 weeks of age.  The actual
neutering and descenting is done one function at a time by a number of
"technicians" as the baby ferret is passed to them in assembly-line fashion,
the baby anesthetized just enough to be able to respond visually to pain.
This is done to ensure that the baby is seen to be alive throughout its
journey down the line, so that no wages are wasted in paying the "tecs" to
continue their individual "surgeries" on kits that have died prior to
reaching the end of the assembly (disassemly) line.  The death rate is a
closely held secret, but it is known that uniformity of anesthetic
administration is risky, since not all the kits are "uniform."
 
Each "tec" does only one function and where organs are finally removed
somewhere farther down the line, that "tec" is required to keep a collection
of the removed organs (tissues), this done to "ensure QC (quality control).
The assembly line procedures are under the direct supervision of a vet,
albeit none of the "tecs" are vets.  Controlled speed is vital, so that the
kit does not recover fully before it reaches the end of the line, and the
faster all the "tecs" do their one thing as the kit goes by, the greater the
"tec" benefits.
 
NOTE: We have respayed 5 blue-ear (MF?) mature ferrets here and found that
the original spayings were incomplete.  And out here in the NW corner of the
US, these imcompletely spayed ferrets are likely just the "tip of the
iceberg." One can only wonder how many "spayed" ferrets die each year of
aplastic anemia since the owners do not even suspect that their supposedly
spayed jill is in estrus, nor do they even recognize necessarily the turgid
vulva for what it may really signify.
 
Of the 30,000 "worn-out" breeder ferrets that MF may kill each year (1.5 lb
av.) that tonnage of ferret bodies comes to 45,000 lb. and at 2,000 lb. per
ton, that's about 23 tons of . . . ferret carcasses. That's 23 tons of . . .
animal protein.
 
MF manufactures it own brand of ferret chow and canned ferret food.  If you
need a source of animal protein for your manufactured chow and canned food
and you have an annual supply of 23 tons, the question to you is, "What
would you do to increase your profits?" No.  You wouldn't; would you?
Really?
 
I must say that I don't know what MF does with its 23 tons of ferret
carcasses, but the implication is truly horrible.  Are we feeding ferrets
to ferrets?  And, if so, will this practice ultimately produce in ferrets
increased incidence of CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease) sometimes referred
to as spongy brain (mad-cow) disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, a
species-crossing disease worse than AIDS)?  Also one may muse a new
signifigance to the ferret chow with the name, "Totally Ferret."  Please
read, Martin's "Food Pets Die For," but be advised to prepare yourself for
nausea.
 
             Habet et musca splenem. [L.] Even a fly has its spleen.
Edward Lipinski, Frettchenvergnuegen from the Frettchenlustbarkeitsfuehrer !
Frettchenvergnuegen [G.] Joy of Ferrets.  F...fuehrer [G.] Ferret frolics
leader.
[F]erret [E]ndowment for [R]esearch,[R]ehab, [E]ducation & [T]raining
[S]ociety, NorthWest.
[Posted in FML issue 2230]