This is one of those rare times when I completely agree with Sukie.
 
Seriously, Marshall gets all the blame here simply because they're the
biggest target.  When a ferret has a tattoo, some people immediately
make the assumption that it'll go adrenal by age 2.  If it happens, then
that's their scientific evidence that applies to all MF ferrets.  If it
doesn't happen, though -- like, say, if it lives to be 6 or 7 -- they
don't notice.  Same goes for when a non-tattooed pet shop ferret has
severe medical issues at an early age.  It's like a nurse noticing when
more car accidents occur on a full moon once or twice and assuming
there's something occult going on, even though it doesn't cross her
mind when there's a quiet night on a full moon.
 
And being angry at MF because they don't donate some acceptable amount
of junk to shelters?  Come on.  They don't have any obligation to give
you the time of day -- especially considering shelterers are always
haranguing them on the internet and expecting that to accompish anything
besides antagonize them and make them less likely to listen.  I'm
overweight, but I'm not expecting McDonald's to give me money for
exercise shoes just because I ate there too much.  And as for that PETA
page: (1) the alleged events happened eight years ago (2) if you're using
PETA as your only source for anything, you've fallen right into their
trap.
 
The fact is that, as it stands right now, we (the ferret scene) need
MF more than they need us.  We have done a worse job reaching out and
educating consumers about ferrets than MF has.  I just got a ferret and
I feed it MF food, but its poop smells terrible!  Oh, but look!  MF has
this Bi-Odor stuff you put in the water to get the smell away!  Problem
solved!  Meanwhile, you go to a shelter with the same question, and
you'll get real-life versions of Patty and Selma from the Simpsons
talking about how horrible a pet owner you are and how you should change
this, do that, rework your entire lifestyle, etc., etc., etc.  Yeah,
sheltering is tough.  I'm sorry.  But if we want to have the same rapport
with the grand majority of ferret owners that MF enjoys, then we need to
seriously improve our PR.
 
It took decades of work and the intervention of the government and
several celebrities to get dogs and cats out of (many) pet stores.  If
you want ferrets on the same level as cats and dogs in the US, it'll
take that same amount of concerted effort.  Making a strawman out of a
company that doesn't even deserve the worst of it accomplishes nothing.
 
Posting anonymously since I know what happens to your private mailbox
when you post a contrary opinion on the fml.
 
[FG]
 
[Moderator's note: Actually, that's not always an acceptable reason for
an anonymous post, but this one was factual and non-inflamatory.  Maybe
not everyone will agree with the message but it is well said, and given
a couple of circumstances, I'd say anonymously posting was ok.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 5310]