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]