>From:    "Mrs. Duck" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Marshall Farms
>I will continue to boycott all Marshall Farms Products until they will at
>least sit down with members of LIFE, LOS, AFA and HSUS to discuss the
>problems that they create for the ferret shelters, as well as thier
>shipping policies.
 
By breeding ferrets for profit and not out of love, MF has grown and
prospered.  This has happened because people fall in love with one ferret
and are hit by ferret math.  The more ferrets MF breeds, the more people
love them and willingly give themselves to be owned by them.  Were it not
for people who love ferrets, MF would be out of business.  MF *owes* these
people who are keeping them prosperous.  It owes them the healthiest, most
carefully-bred ferrets possible.  It owes them a clean, safe environment in
which the ferrets are bred and born.  And, because the payment of such debts
(especially to the faceless, nameless entity known as *them*) is easily
postponed, forgotten or even denied, MF must open their facilities to
frequent and unannounced inspection by groups representing people who love
ferrets.
 
Again, why does FM owe this debt?  Because MF is making a tidy profit off
these people!  AND because ferrets are not a product or a commodity but
living, sentient, loving, thinking, feeling creatures who steal our hearts
and own our souls for eternity.  If my car never runs again, if the buttons
fall off my blouse (in privacy, please), if my toaster refuses to toast or
my phone won't ring, I won't grieve their demise.  My heart won't be broken.
 
But if my beloved animal companions sicken and die because those who breed
them *only for profit* -- and not out of love for their kind -- refused to
allow a fair, reasonable number of inspections of their facilities by
others who also love these creatures, then I say BOYCOTT THE BASTARDS!!!
Rescue as many MF ferts as possible and spread the word not to help any
"manufacturer" -- for that is how they see themselves -- to stay in business
who is not proud of his or her operation and is unwilling to open it to a
reasonable number of inspections.
 
I'm not talking about small breeders here, but about an organization that is
obviously making an enormous profit by providing many thousands of animals
every year to pet stores.  They have created a huge market for their
"product" and are benefitting nicely by doing so.  They owe the right of
inspection to representatives from those of us who love and are loved by the
creatures they "produce."
 
-- Kris Aaron (Rainey)
[Posted in FML issue 1814]