Lisa Leidig wrote:
>Bill, (or Diane)
>No offense, but your responses back to me were only your opinions, and as
>such, don't hold as much weight.
 
Dear Lisa,
Right on sister!  My point exactly.  I appreciate you standing up and
participating in a very important issue.  Looking back through previous
volumes, it is easy to see how some mistakenly have appointed themselves
chief spokesperson for MF without any authority to do so, and in this frame,
have attempted to bring these debates to a personal level while MF remains
silent.
 
Some may this distraction as a highly effective tactic, and some victims of
these assaults have lamented.  However, such is the nature of public forums.
MF has continued to ignore or sidestep these valid concerns.  You can
contact P. Reid at Marshall Ferrets, but be warned, you may not get a
straight answer.
 
MF has contributed some funds to CA legalization, rabies issues, etc.,
however, these relative tokens cannot by them silence on important issues.
 
Dr. Judith Bell, past employee of Marshall, who reportedly left Marshall for
"ethical reasons" is a bit more difficult to reach.  However, with some
endeavor, you may be successful.  However, she has spoken at AFA gatherings.
According to a breeder member of the AFA, many members believe Marshall
should be taken to task.  But it would appear that legal pressures have won
temporarily as Marshall presumably has greater resources than the AFA or any
other ferret org or shelter.
 
Some estimates of Marshall's breeders are 30-33,000 while others place this
number at less than 10,000 ferrets.  That's still a whole lot of fuzzies.
Production numbers have been placed in the 100's of thousands distributed
worldwide for pet and research.
 
- ASK them, not Bill, not me.
- Ask if they have a veterinarian on staff.
- Ask what their procedures are for neutering/spaying and descenting and
  who performs these.
- Ask what happens to all the jills that get to be too old to reproduce.
- Ask how many ferrets they sell to research.
- Ask when will they supply consumers with "some" health information,
  instead of the very minimum required by law(shots).  These are not dogs
  or cats.  Their present full color brochure is 99.97% ferret
  health/maintenance free.
- Ask what vaccines are being used before shipment.
- Ask at what age they ship these kits, and what happens to those that are
  not sold.
- Ask how often their jills reproduce.
- Ask how many ferrets are housed per cubic foot.
 
These and other valid questions are quite reasonable and not terribly
invasive.  There are no secret formulas needed to reply, no trade secrets,
just basic information most breeders would be *happy* to respond to,
including B.K. who is known to be a competent breeder.
 
best wishes,
until next time,
alpha(in a ZFZ) chi
[Posted in FML issue 2230]