Thank you for being so understanding about rabbits as pets.  Yes, French
Lops are a wonderful breed of rabbit.
 
I think I understand that you are bothered by seeing body parts of any
animal that you have had as a pet on Ebay.  And you do not think the use
for education is a good reason?  Some feel that it is disrespectful to
the animal and the ferret should have a burial and not be sold like an
old hat on Ebay.  Some others think that as long as the animal is not
being killed for his/her parts to be sold and will be used to better
understand and medically treat ferrets it is ok.  I must admit I
personally agree with the latter.  It doesn't make me think that I am
right or you wrong.  But I would be very very upset if anyone were to
be destroying cats, dogs, and ferrets for the purpose of making money
off Ebay by selling their parts.  I do not think this is the case for
the ferret skull.  And, yes, you are right about human parts of Ebay.
I have seen supposedly real human shrunken heads for sale...but that is
a whole different topic.
 
The other part of my post was to explain the difficulty for Ebay to
decide what to ban or not to ban.  First of all, I think Ebay should have
at least responded back to you.  However, if Ebay were to agree with you
and remove the ferret skulls, then they would have to agree with those
who don't want to see rabbit skulls because they have rabbits for pets.
Then Ebay would have to keep banning because of letters untill all animal
parts were banned alltogether; one couldn't sell leather boots, or a
leather jacket.  How do we or Ebay know where to draw the line on what
animal part are ok to sell and which ones are not?  It is very difficult
as this is not a black and white subject.  Every person has an opinion
where that line is and many disagree on that.  I think Ebay has drawn the
line where it has because it feels that if they continue to apease every
person who wants to ban a product it could go on to the point of not
selling leather, or dog food, feather stuffed pillows, anything with
animals in it at all.
 
I would love to see Ebay not support the selling of fur products but I
understand that Ebay must decide where to draw the line and, also, decide
what the majority it ok with.  I hope I have made you understand why it
is not so simple for Ebay to just stop the selling of a ferret skull.  I
am sure Ebay recieves emails everyday from members of PETA who are upset
by the selling of leather, feathers, and animal food products.  We must
all try to understand and to a degree accept each other's opinions.  We
may not completely agree on this topic but, kudos to you for trying and
standing up for your beloved pets and what you believe in.  As a pet
owner (and a ferret owner) I can identify and understand that your love
and devotion to ferrets has shaped your opinion and as it has, also,
shaped mine.  I really think that everyone's opinion on this issue on the
list is, in fact, shaped by their love for ferrets.  All of us, love and
care for ferrets deeply; and that is something we can all agree on.
 
~Kathryn~ and the fuzzbutts: Charlie, Andy, & Mindy
[Posted in FML issue 4761]