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ARCHIVE › Maimed, Ignored: Triple F Ferret Mill
THIS ALERT IS CLOSED. It is archived for use as a letter-writing example
or background research.
No One Hears. No One Comes
"Skinny." The word is scrawled outside the cage of a gaunt male with hollow eyes. At Triple
F Farms, a breeding mill that mass produces ferrets
for research labs and pet stores, it's all about cliff notes. Reducing care to a minimum.
Ferrets live atop wire-mesh floors, crammed in small
cages with no chance to burrow or hide. Babies drop through wire-breaks on to cement floors.
They cry and thrash amid waste...but no one
hears. No one comes. Some die, with their mothers and siblings just above. Triple F staff
even run over, maim or kill them with carts. Some are
stepped on, submerged in feces... Reports from a PETA
undercover investigation, later
corroborated by a U.S.
Department of Agriculture inspection,
show Triple F Farms in violation of federal law. Triple F Farms did not become a ferret
torture mill overnight. The offenses are longstanding and
warrant closure.
TRIPLE F FARMS ABUSE ON RECORD PART 1) USDA INSPECTION REPORT:
Under U.S. Animal Welfare Law Section 2.40 (b) (2), dealers and exhibitors must sustain
ample veterinary care with means to "prevent, control,
diagnose, treat disease and injuries."
At Triple F Farms, unqualified staff stitch abdominal
muscle and skin closed with one suture when
spaying animals. The crude method does not comply with accepted veterinary standards and can
cause wound deterioration and infection.
Triple F
staff fail to use sterile surgical gloves or drapes. Animals are prepped on the same table
used for "major survival surgery."
PART 2) USDA INSPECTION REPORT:
Subsection 2.40 (b) (3) calls for personnel to monitor animals daily, with regular
information relay about animal health, behavior and
welfare.
APHIS inspectors encountered animals long forgotten, in varying states of decline: One
dead ferret with two live cage-mates and another
dead ferret confined with three live ferrets; an adult female with acute stomach spasms,
unable to urinate or defecate and clearly in pain; an
underweight, listless adult male with hollow eyes; other ferrets with white eye secretion,
one whose eye had closed altogether. Triple F staff
seemed unaware of these eye infections.
The ferret with abdominal distress was reported twice before staff noted her condition.
The malnourished male
was labeled "Skinny," with no further documentation to signify consultation with a
veterinarian.
PART 3) USDA INSPECTION REPORT:
Triple F Farms fails to maintain structurally secure indoor/outdoor shelter that prevents
injury to animals.
In birthing areas, Inspectors noted at least two newborns who slipped through wire-mesh
bottom cages on to the floor. Another 50 baby
ferrets, salvaged from the floor earlier that day, were stored in a heated box. Post-weaning
cages, also with 1x1 inch wire mesh floors, can
entangle a ferret’s feet and legs. Damaged metal clasps that hold plastic dividers
between enclosures pose more risk for jammed feet, legs or
tails.
Distress cries were heard from inside a PVC tube feeder where one ferret was trapped until
staff eventually freed him...
See rest of USDA report.
USDA-APHIS, Pennsylvania Agriculture Department, Centers For Disease Control and
Prevention, and Bradford County District Attorney's Office:
Triple F Farms is a Bradford County, PA breeding mill that churns out ferrets for
research labs and pet stores. Ferrets are packed into hot barns
where injuries, infection and death go largely unnoticed. This is not opinion, but
fact, as corroborated in reports from a PETA undercover
investigation and a USDA-APHIS inspection.
I thank USDA-APHIS for ordering Triple F Farms to correct non-compliant activities.
However, I urge continuing oversight and harsher penalties,
including license retraction, should ferrets continue to suffer and die. I commend
Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture for opening its own
investigation and advise ongoing supervision and potential closure. Triple F Farms
did not become a ferret torture mill overnight. Offenses are
longstanding and likely irreparable.
In fact, cruelty that has already occurred warrants criminal charges. I respectfully
ask the Bradford County District Attorney’s
office to investigate animal abuse at Triple F Farms. If arrests are made, please
advocate incarceration and fines
to the maximum extent allowed by law, noting that ferrets bred for "pet stores"
constitute domestic animals.
I am shocked by the degree to which Triple F Farms flouted federal law. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pays the breeder
over $1.5 million for ferrets to use in experimentation, yet doesn’t notice
signs of abuse? The CDC ought to conduct its own
investigation, and cut ties with Triple F Farms.
Under U.S. Animal Welfare Law Section 2.40 (b) (2), dealers and exhibitors are
required to sustain proper veterinary means to "prevent,
control, diagnose, and treat disease and injuries." At Triple F Farms, unqualified
staff spay animals, stitching abdominal muscle and skin
closed with just one suture. This crude technique does not meet accepted veterinary
standards, according to USDA-APHIS, and can result in
wound deterioration and infection. While employed by Triple F, PETA’s
investigator recorded bloody rectal prolapses, open wounds,
herniated organs, torn and bleeding eyes, infected feet, and inflamed mammary glands.
Though she alerted owners, managers or supervisors,
nothing happened. She was told to "just leave" ferrets as she found them.
Subsection 2.40 (b) (3) of the law calls for personnel to monitor animals daily, with
regular exchange of information about animal health and
behavior. APHIS inspectors encountered animals in varying states of decline: One dead
ferret with two live cage-mates and another dead ferret
with three live ferrets; an adult female with acute stomach spasms, unable to urinate
or defecate and clearly in pain; an underweight, listless
adult male with hollow eyes; other ferrets with white eye secretion, one whose eye
had closed altogether. Shockingly, Triple F staff seemed
unaware of eye infections. The ferret with abdominal distress was reported twice
before staff even noted her condition. The malnourished male
was labeled "Skinny," with no further documentation.
Apathy of such magnitude rarely occurs in isolated spurts. It is ingrained.
Triple F Farms appears to take a "cliff notes" approach to animal care. Even as
babies drop through wire-bottom cages on to
cement floors, cry and thrash amid waste, no one hears. No one comes. PETA’s
investigator observed staff run over, maim or kill young
ferrets with carts. Some were even stepped on.
I encourage regulatory agencies and law-enforcement authorities to take further
punitive action against Triple F Farms. I look forward to any
updates in this disturbing case.
Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, GA 30333
ph: 800-232-4636
email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov SOURCE:
www.cdc.gov/contact
Animal Health & Diagnostic Commission (AHDC)
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Honorable George Greig, AHDC Chairman
Secretary of Agriculture
717-772-2853 / ggreig@state.pa.us
Brian K. Reed, DVM
Field Investigation Committee Chairman
Agricultural Veterinary Associates
717-625-4212 / bcreed@dejazzd.com
Honorable Eli N. Avila
Secretary of Health eavila@state.pa.us, caaraiza@state.pa.us
Designee: James T. Rankin, DVM
State Public Health Veterinarian
Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
PA Department of Health
717-346-4524 / jrankin@state.pa.us
Honorable Elder Vogel, Jr.
Senate Majority Chairman
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
717-787-3076 / evogel@pasen.gov
Designee: Michael Rader, Executive Director
717-787-3076 / mrader@pasen.gov
Honorable Judith Schwank
Senate Minority Chairman
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
Designee: William Evans, Executive Director
717-787-8925 / wgevans@pasenate.com
The Honorable John Maher
House of Representatives, Majority Chairman
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee jmaher@pahousegop.com
Designee: Ms. Kerry Golden, Exec. Director
717-787-8550 / kgolden@pahousegop.com
TRIPLE F FARMS ABUSE ON RECORD, CONTINUED PART 4) USDA INSPECTION REPORT:
Triple F does not meet food, water and sanitation requirements as depicted in Section
3.129 (b) regulations. Wood chip bedding spills into food
holders and soils the prescribed weaning diet for kits. Inspectors logged evidence of
kibble strewn on the floor as a result of damaged PVC pipe
feeders – leaving some young ferrets with literally no way to get food. In other
nest boxes, recently weaned ferrets tried to get water from dry
bowls that had flipped over. Throughout the site, accumulated dust, fur and wood
shreds clog exhaust fans, heaters and wire cage tops. The
understaffed facility is unable to uphold basic health and safety protocols for its
large ferret population.
PART 5) USDA INSPECTION REPORT:
The understaffed facility is unable to uphold basic health and safety protocols for
its large ferret population.
USDA REPORT ORDERS:
Each dealer should establish and maintain a program of adequate veterinary care that
includes use of appropriate methods that in accordance
with established veterinary medical procedures to prevent, control, diagnose and
treat diseases and injuries. No major operative procedures
shall be done at the facility until corrections are in place.
All animals must be observed daily to assess their health and well-being and any
information on problems of
animal health should be directly communicated to the Attending Veterinarian for
evaluation and assessment. The Licensee needs to ensure that
all
personnel who are responsible for the daily observation of animals to assess their
health and well-being are familiar with this requirement for
the
health and welfare of the animals. Correct immediately.
Indoor facilities should be structurally sound and shall be maintained in good
repair to protect the animals from
injury and to contain the animals. The Licensee needs to address these items for the
health and safety of the animals. Correct items 1 through
4
by 9/7/11.
There should be a sufficient number of employees at a facility in order to maintain
an acceptable level of husbandry and animal care. The
Licensee needs to address this issue for the health of the animalson the premises.
Correct by 9/24/11.
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