The debate about Marshall Farms has been going on ever since I joined the
FML about a year ago.  I though I'd say something now to bring in a
viewpoint from a country where there are no breeding ranches at all.
 
I found it hard to believe when I read the FAQ and found out what Marshall
Farms was, and the concept of a breeding ranch.  I'm pretty sure there are
no such things for ferrets in Australia, and I haven't heard of puppy mills
either.  That's not to say there aren't any, there may be things going on in
the eastern states that I don't know about.  But for ferrets where I come
from it is all backyard breeders.
 
The other thing that suprised me was that although most people think that
Marshall Farms is a bad thing, there is a huge amount of opposition to
private or backyard breeders.  Surely if Marshall Farms is bad, small
breeders are the only alternative?  Marshall Farms is not perfect, and small
breeders are not perfect.  I have seen breeder ferrets kept in some shocking
conditions here, but there are also a lot of people breed who produce lovely
animals.  It's not a perfect system but it works ok.
 
I think the public here in Western Australia is a lot more educated about
keeping whole ferrets.  They have to be - there is no Marshall Farms taking
the responsibilty for desexing them all.  I know a number of people with
whole males as pets and they are well looked after.  They may not be house
pets, but they don't suffer for that.  When telling people about owning
ferrets I tell them they smell - it may be bad PR, but it's fact.  If
someone is turned off by the fact that ferrets smell they are probably not
ready to own a ferret.  I also explain that the way to stop a ferret
smelling is to desex and that a female will die if she is not bred, and the
person will immediately say they will desex if they get a ferret.  It is a
matter of education.
 
Perhaps the difference here is that the ferret club here is very committed
to educating it's members.  People may not know the problems of owning a
whole ferret when they are first thinking of buying one, but if they contact
the club (as many people do) the will receive care sheets stressing the
importance of such things as vaccinations, and the importance of desexing.
If a person decides to keep a whole female there are six vasectomised males
to choose from in the area.
 
The club tries to encourage responsible breeding.  People are generally
encouraged not to breed, or to have homes ready for the kits before they are
born.  People will breed anyway.  I did, and produced eight lovely babies
which all sold, and I handed out a care sheet with basic information on it.
Then it was in the new owners hands, they knew the basics and I hope my
babies are bringing them as much pleasure as our first ferret did us.
People are not going to know everything before they start to breed, or even
own a ferret (I didn't), but they will learn (I still am).  It would have to
be a pretty hard hearted person who keeps breeding when they have killed off
jills in the process especially if the animal is a pet.  If a person breeds
just for profit it is not good financial sense to do it so badly your
animals die.  Bad breeders usually aren't evil, just ignorant.
 
That's the situation here in Western Australia.  Perhaps the solution in the
USA to the Marshall Farms problem and the bad backyard breeder is to
encourage all the good, committed ferret owners to breed.  Perhaps Marshall
Farms will find they don't have the monopoly on selling ferrets that they do
now and the public will be getting not only well bred ferrets, but
information on how to care for them properly.
 
Of course, if this is to happen there will need to be a lot of educating to
do.  There is next to no information on breeding ferrets on the internet,
and most of the ferret books are fairly old and out of date.  (How's that
breeding FAQ coming along Pam and Zen?) People currently don't even know how
to keep an undesexed ferret, judging by the panicky post I see on here about
females who have just come on heat for the first time.
 
Rereading that a lot of it came across as me defending my decision to breed.
In the past I have wanted ask questions on here about breeding, but I did
not as I knew I would be flamed for even considering such a thing.  It is a
pity the ferret community on here is not as supportive of breeding as it is
every other aspect of ferret ownership.  I'm sure there are a lot of people
out there who would breed beautiful ferrets if they had the know-how.  I am
far from being an expert but I am willing to share the knowlege I have and
not question the motives of the person who is asking.
 
Kylie Preisig,
Perth, Western Australia
The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employer.
[Posted in FML issue 1934]