Susan Meyers wrote:
>I do not agree with anyone on this issue. I believe you should give
>Casper back. In fact this is a wonderful oppurtunity to enlighten
>another. Who are you people that you think your self so much better then
>others, what an insult to intelligent people everywhere. These people
>were ignorant (not stupid) in the proper care of ferrets, but many people
>are equally ignorant in the care of cars, houses, computers, etc. This is
>not stupidity, it is a call for education on this or that subject.
 
I'm not debating whether the people were ignorant or stupid... in fact, I
don't claim that they were either.  The reason I thought that Casper
should stay where he was, is that the people who used to have him didn't
care about him enough to find out how to take care of him.  They could
have been rocket scientists, but if they aren't willing to spend the
money to descent their pet, or spend the time to ask someone why their
pet smells bad, and how to fix that, then they probably won't care enough
when it gets sick, to take it to the vet...
 
As an analogy, you mentioned that some people are ignorant about cars as
well. Let's say someone won a new car. (I'm using "won" here because
nobody would give away a car they paid $20k for!) But the car smelled
really bad inside.  The smell wouldn't go away.  They were too busy to
phone a car dealership to find out how to get rid of the smell, so they
gave the car away to an aquaintance.  The aquaintance took the car to a
dealer and found out that the smell was due to the brand of seat cover
used in that model of car, and that a good cleaning (by a professional)
would get rid of it. So the friend goes and pays to have the entire
inside of the car deepcleaned.
 
Then one day he gives the aquaintance a ride to work in the car. The
aquaintance says "Oh it smells much better now, I'd like it back."
That's all well and good, but what happens when it runs out of gas?
"The car won't go anymore... do you want it?" Then when he fills it with
gas, they want it back.
 
Can you see this happening: "Casper isn't going to the bathroom anymore.
He seems depressed. Maybe you better take him." Then Kevin takes him to
the vet and finds that Casper was sick because he swallowed something
that got stuck, the vet performs hundreds of dollars of surgery, and when
the friend sees Casper happy again, they decide they want Casper back.
And asking a pet store owner why a ferret smells is much easier than
taking Casper to the vet!
 
> When we place an animal above our fellow man we place our understanding
>under a rock. Teach and forgive and let them have the oppurtunity to
>grow,please do not deny their right to come up higher.
 
They do have the opportunity to grow... with their new ferret.  Kevin
should not pay the price for his friend's misjudgement.
 
I don't think that animals should be placed above people (hey I eat
burgers too), but I do think that it is our duty to protect our pets.
Giving Casper back might even be dangerous, as in the above situation
Casper might have died, if his owners didn't care enough to get him
checked out.
 
>They say what we dislike most in others is that which we dislike most in
>ourselves.
 
This is true... and I dislike how I gave up Mocha without a fight.  I
don't think that that means I should have gotten her back, though.
 
 
[Posted in FML issue 1144]