I haven't read the Marshall Farms debate, and am so far behind in fml
reading I've practically given up for now, so I apologize if this has been
covered.  I just feel so bad for the those MF kits that end up in pet stores
that are too young to even eat kibble.  Over the last year I've heard quite
a few of them, sometimes and just yesterday talked to a shelter director who
had gotten one in.  Thankfully, the person that purchased the kit decided
that he couldn't care for it, and got it to the shelter, or she would have
died, because she just couldn't eat hard food yet.  The level of cruelty of
ferret "manufacturers" who insists on making money on the backs of tiny
animals who literally can't survive yet is beyond me.  This has just been
bothering me terribly the last months, as do other MF practices.  I don't
think the dog world would ever dream of supporting such a company.  Believe
me, we'd have plenty of ferrets if there was no MF, and they already supply
labs with our poor little friends, so they'd just keep on keeping on with
that.  Flame me if you choose; philosophical or political reasons won't ever
convince me that cruelty is justifiable, whether it's housing them in small
cages 100% of the time, shipping tiny babies too young or killing the mother
ferrets who provide these ferret manufacturers with their income.  If I see
ways to work to stop them (doubtful) I'll do what I can to help.  I'm not
interested in debating this or swapping "yeah, yeah, I feel the same way"
emails but would rather do something productive, albeit probably futile.
 
Sorry for the downer.
Beth
[Posted in FML issue 2246]