>From:    Debra Thomason <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Ferret Attacks
>
>I seem to recall that the case in England that Dick Bossart mentions
>happened when the parents left the child at home alone while they went
>out to a nightclub.  There were 2 dogs loose in the home as well as the
>ferret.  There were no details offered, but I always thought the presense
>of multiple animals and the obvious neglect on the part of the parents
>to make the charge against the ferret questionable at least.
 
THAT sounds right!  Know that there was also that British case quoted
years ago where a door was open and an animal came in.  Guess that it was
one or both of the cases in the U.S.  where the parents were passed out
from drink or drugs, wasn't it?  It's such a rare thing that it's hard to
remember from year to year, or decade to decade.  Wasn't something like
that also the case when the little CA girl had her face bitten so the
grandmother was given custody?  (From ASPCA stuff I read a long while back
it's a pretty common scenario when a serious attack by any domestic animal
happens, just like neglect and/or abuse being common when such attacks
happen.  Yes, certainly, some pet animal (of any type) bites can happen
even with good parenting, but from what that ASPCA material said in most
the blame is obviously the parents' or guardians'.
 
Anyone have any details what happened with the little one with the torn
eyelid mentioned in NYC statements (when it was, where it was, what the
particulars were)?  Is it the SAME one as the CA one mentioned above?
 
 
>I have 16 children, none with two legs...the snake doesn't have any legs,
>as a matter of fact!  It might "urk you" to have people compare fuzzies
>with family, but it urks me when people don't respect my children just as
>that.
 
I think that some folks just don't "get" that such feelings don't have to
be species-specific.  Some folks are made in such a way that for them it
does have to be felt for one species only, but not all people are like
that.  The weird thing to me is when someone who claims to be a major
sci-fi fan doesn't understand this.  You'd think that someone who thinks
it would be interesting to know other non-Earth intelligent species as
friends would be more open to understanding that feeling of inclusion are
on a continuum for people in general rather than being locked into one
point, but some just don't.  (Then again, we had $11,500 in ferret costs
last year -- most in vet bills -- at a time when we are budgeting strictly
due to the soon-to-occur dissolution of the Labs and hopefully the
beginning of a start-up, so we gave up a vacation and new floors, and some
other things, as is only logical to us, and have been getting through it
with a lot of gallows humor-- which really does help.)
[Posted in FML issue 3664]