Scott wrote:
>There are those who feel that all large breeders are wrong.  That is their
>right.  However, some feel it is necessary to distort the facts, take other
>facts out of context, exaggerate other facts, use false facts to create an
>emotional feeling against the breeders, and in some cases, just plain lie
>in order to blacken the image of the large breeders.  That is wrong.  Are
>some of the MF and other breeder practices in need of a change?  Most
>certainly there are.  But, lies and innuendo are not the way to effect
>those changes.  Many of the claims against MF particularly, come from
>animal rights group whose stated agenda is to put all animal breeders out
>of business by any means possible.  As a result, all of their allegations
>must be suspect and carefully examined and questioned.
 
Exactly.  The absolute worst have actually been small "backyard breeders"
(as opposed to private breeders); they feed food that isn't even geared for
ferrets, inbreed like crazy, have worse living conditions, no medical care,
etc.  Please, read some of the past posts about some of these which were
stopped or stalled.  There are problems with all of the large breeders,
though each has an individual flavor, but what often appears on the
Internet are exaggerations, old things long corrected (which is why current
info is important), etc.  and that reporting doesn't encourage improvement
if they get continual blamed for something corrected.  I really (really,
really) think that what is needed are stricter federal standards so the ALL
would have to improve; ditto for kit shipping ages for all.  Such would
need to also apply to small breeders to force a NATIONAL standard; right
now many such places just move back and forth between states or go to
states with ZIP in the way of control.  They make the "farms" look like
heavens.  We need some federal changes that will help all; I know of only
ONE small group of ferret people whoever tried for that, as opposed to many
who have tried for boycotts or just griped periodically.
 
Lisette wrote:
>AVAR has filed complaints against Marshall Farms with the New York State
>Education Departments Office of Professional Discipline.
 
Lisettte, please, search old FMLs  (They are probably less than a year old,
now, unless time is compressing for me -- younger than the refs given about
MF, so should suit okay) for letters DIRECTLY FROM AVAR.  See:
 
1. Their demand for the sterilization of ALL domestic ferrets.
2. Their insistence that domestic ferrets die off completely.  (They
   didn't know that they differ genetically form wild ferret types and
   they didn't care.)
3. Their opposition to pets of any type.
4. Their past (if you want to consider past things in relation to
   anyone else you have to do it for both sides to be fair, or just
   stick to what's current) formal opposition to legalization of ferrets
   in CA.
6. Other things there which will shock you.
 
There is an entire string of letters directly from them to several people
(including to me -- and they actually gave permission for me to put those
letters on the FML ) over a space of a few weeks; these letters WERE copied
and sent to all members of their Board of Directors whose addresses could
be found.  I guess only a comparison of who remains on the Board will tell
if what their director and their president said still hold true.  It is
VERY SCARY STUFF!  Unless their leadership completely changed I would NOT
trust AVAR AT ALL.  OH, BTW, they say in their letter that they do NOT know
if PETA told the truth about France, that they just sent some letters they
were asked to sand and that was that.  Got that reply from another place I
asked, too.  Yet, both reported what PETA said on their own sites WITHOUT
having any direct connection or any verification.
 
PETA has also come out against ferrets as pets, and did so even after they
told some here that they had stopped doing so.
 
These are people who want all pet ferrets to DIE OUT.  They aren't good
sources given that goal.
 
*****USDA files DIRECTLY from the USDA (instead of through someone who
might change them in either direction) and kept current make more sense
as a basis from which to work for improvements.  Anyone have a route to
those?*****
 
I still want to see improvements among ALL the breeders who don't have good
standards (farm and backyard), and I expect that private breeders will
still continue to have higher and ever improving standards that beat any
required by law or regulation, but that's me.  Hey, I also want to see
ferrets continue as pets, be legalized in California, and not be all
sterilized and allowed to die out completely.
 
When info from quoted sources on each side of a debate is questionable what
is needed is firm data.
[Posted in FML issue 3176]