>Subject: Zen replies to Lisa Leidig's questions
 
Bill, (or Diane)
 
I think you missed my whole point -- I wasn't asking for your opinion of
what you think Marshall Farms does, I was asking Marshall Farms to respond.
 
No offense, but your responses back to me were only your opinions, and as
such, don't hold as much weight.  When I speak, I represent no one but me -
I would hope that one day MF will speak so we know what they represent.
Whether or not you have spoken to people at MF, is not the point of the
matter - no one else heard the conversation, so it may as well not have
happened.  Please do not read this the wrong way, I am not discounting your
opinions or beliefs -- only that I would like to hear what MF has to say.
 
Since you are not a representative of MF, it just doesn't mean as much to
me.  I am really, truly interested in hearing from MF.  The responses that
you gave can only truly be answered by someone who works at Marshalls and
knows how the farm is run.
 
To continue the car analogy, If car manufacturer "Ferret" pulled 5% of the
80,000+ cars on their line and tested them for three months or a year and
had no problems during that period - in their opinion, they have a great
product!  But if when the car "Ferret" was sold to the public, and a two
years down the road, that 20% cars had problems, in three years, 30%, four
years 45%, or whatever, -- then the more true perspective is apparent -
there is a significant problem!
 
I am not implying that any % of MF ferrets have problems, only that by long-
term observation can you really determine how good or bad something is.
That is why I think it is important to have an idea of just how MF tracks
their animals, and for how long -- natural lifespan?  5years?  3years?
less?
 
If I understand your claim correctly you are saying that MF keeps at least
1,000 (you actually stated 8-9 thousand) ferrets(thats 5% of 20,000) through
a normal lifespan as a control group?  Are they treated as the "regular"
for-sale kits, altered (and therefore useless to them as a breeding
facility)?  Are they not altered and instead bred?  Are the progeny of this
control group then included in the control group?  And these are the same
folks that destroy a jill when she no longer can keep up?  (I chose 5% of
20,000 because I thought a breeding stock of 20,000 would probably produce
80,000+ sellable ferret kits in a year).
 
I am glad to hear how you run your ferretry/shelter.  When I asked about
tracking, what I was referring to in the other ferretry's hob was not so
much the genetics, but overall health!  If you borrowed, say, my hob to
breed with three of your jills, wouldn't you be interested in knowing if he
developed a congenital heart valve problem, for instance?  If you chose my
hob, you would already know his lineage, and that was the reason you had
chosen him.  Line breeding is a hot topic in all companion animal breeding,
not just ferrets and one I was not going to go into.  My experience was with
Palomino Quarter horses, and those folks don't pull any punches.  I did not
want to muddy the issue.
 
I would like to hear just once, from "the horse's mouth" the answers to the
the questions that I asked, and other people ask all the time.
 
(BTW, I have only owned 3 new cars in 12 years, and in each case, I was
personally contacted by the automaker-not just a survey, but a 15 minute
phone conversation.  To this day, they contact me in relation to
satisfaction, and the latest car is now more than 4 years old -- so if what
you are saying is true, statistically, I hit the jackpot.)
 
Lisa, Head Ferret
The Ferret Haven "By-the-Sea"
[Posted in FML issue 2228]