I wanted to post something about the latest "discussion", "argument"
or whatever you choose to call it.  I sometimes skip posts that don't
interest me.  I often skip the sad posts about losing a ferret.  Why?
Because it's just something I don't like to think about.  It always makes
me sad to read these posts, because I know that I will take it very hard
whenever I lose one of my babies (something I'm yet to experience).  I do
feel for the people who have lost a beloved pet.  Years ago, I myself
used to scoff at people who treated their cats or dogs like a baby.  I
thought what "fanatics" these people are.  Then I got a ferret.  Guess
what?  Now I am one of those "fanatics".  I baby my furkids as much as
anyone has ever coddled a pet.  These little critters truly are wonderful
creatures.  Some of my friends tell me that when they pass away, they
want to come back as one of my ferrets.
 
Rainbow bridge?  Who knows what the afterlife holds?  I certainly
wouldn't claim to have the answers.  Until we pass away, none of us will
ever know if there even is an afterlife for ourselves, much less our
pets.  I just know that my own afterlife would be much happier if I had
my furry children by my side.  I do think all life is precious, and that
to assume that humans are all that matters is being a bit conceited and
shortsighted.  I really don't think we are all that different from our
furry counterparts.  Some apes have been taught sign language, and from
that it appears that they have a more complex thought process than they
were ever before given credit for having.
 
Whatever your beliefs might be, creation, evolution or some combination
of the two, I think there is room to consider animals as important.  If
you are a religious person, then consider that God created all creatures,
so they would all be precious to God, wouldn't they?  If you believe
strictly in evolution, then you believe that we have common ancesters
with other animal species.  So why wouldn't they have the same or similar
thought processes to our own?  Are we really all that far removed from
them?  I don't think so.  I guess I've rambled enough for now.
 
Holly,
Tigger, Pooh & Sprite (aka Piglet)
[Posted in FML issue 3908]