Daisy and Gretchen have lots of sway at this Wayne County company.

The whims of these ferrets can influence the launch of products whether it's the latest playpen or a knapsack.

They live in a "mini mansion" in the lobby of Marshall Pet Products, which company officials say is the nation's largest seller of ferrets.

Marshall's ferrets and neutered dwarf rabbits, along with hundreds of products for small animals, are found in big chains such as Petco and PetSmart, in independent retailers nationally and at locations abroad, including in Brazil and Japan.

That means Daisy and Gretchen considered old at 6 years have a key job: allowing workers to study what they like to play with and sleep in.

On a recent afternoon, the light-haired Gretchen burrowed into a fuzzy sleep sack as the darker-colored Daisy poked her head out of a hanging bed.

"They've been in a lot of photo ops," said President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Reid, as he leaned over the cage.

"You should have seen them trying out one of our new beds," he added. "They piled up on top of each other. They loved it."

Marshall, an 11-year-old company in Wolcott, has benefited from growing consumer spending on pets, which jumped from $17 billion to $35.9 billion in the last decade, according to the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association.

Ferrets are the cousins of weasels, with the personality of a house pet but not as easily housebroken. There are 8 million to 10 million pet ferrets nationally, according to the AmericanFerret Association.

A ferret might be for someone who is allergic to dogs and cats, or who lives in a small space and doesn't have the time required to care for a dog, Reid added. Ferrets are popular among city dwellers and thoseout of college, among others.

"The popularity of ferrets is always changing," said Margie Seidewand of the Pet World Rochester store in Greece, which sells Marshall animals and pet supplies.

"Remember the movie Along Came Polly?" asked Seidewand, referring to the movie that featured a ferret. "When it came out, we couldn't keep a ferret in stock. But then we'd go weeks without selling one."

Ferret capital

So how did Wayne County become a hub for pet ferrets? Hunters once used ferrets to help them get rabbits, a practice that's now illegal in this country.

Gilman Marshall Marshall ferret brand founder had a hobby of breeding ferrets for his hunter buddies, Reid said. In 1939, he turned his hobby into a business, breeding ferrets and other animals for pet and laboratory use.

The Marshall Farms Group Ltd. is the ferret breeder for the subsidiary run by Reid. The farm is a few miles away in North Rose, Wayne County.

Reid's pet products business, however, began in his Webster garage. Reid, who sold ferrets for Marshall Farms, was frustrated by theferret products on the market, which he viewed as unsafe and impractical.

So he tinkered in his garage. He recalled his wife's amazement when his first order for 1,000 harnesses and leads all sold within a week.

Marshall's products now range from food to fashion hats and clothes to an amino acid mixture that Reid said gets rid of a ferret's smell, which can aggravate some pet owners.

Reid wouldn't say how many ferrets he sells yearly, or give company financials. Marshall, he said, does grow annually by double-digits, has about 85 percent of the petferret market and employs 20 to 30 people, depending on the season. Continued growth likely means Marshall will be adding jobs in 2006 and beyond, such as positions in marketing and purchasing.

"They're definitely one of the top three breeders in the country," said Mary McCarty-Houser, vice president of the American Ferret Association. "And I wouldn't be surprised if Marshall was the largest."

Mixed reviews

But being in the commercial pet industry doesn't come without controversy.

Marshall's breeding facilities, some claim, are unsanitary, put animals in spaces that are too small and pose a danger to animals, according to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' Web site.

Others attack Marshall and other big commercial breeders for spaying and neutering the ferrets too early, which they say could stunt the animals' growth and immune system.

"But it is a Catch-22," said AFA's McCarty-Houser. Young ferrets that aren't fixed and sold in pet stores to uneducated owners also risk health problems, she said. If the femaleferret never mates and doesn't get the right treatments, she could die from aplastic anemia, she added.

There's also the issue of experimentation. Reid said a "very small percentage" of Marshall Farms' ferrets are used to test new vaccines and are given to veterinary schools as test animals.

Reid said the criticism comes from "a very small group making a very large noise. If you continue to put out a good product, your consumers will stick by you."