Okay, I know this is not a dog list and I'm way off topic here, but I had to
put my two cents in on this. Ferret story follows.
 
On Mon, 30 Oct 1995, Lindy Mariel Martin wrote:
 
> A week or two ago, I noticed my neighbors had debarked their obnoxious
> little dachshund.  I just about threw a party in their honor!  That dog had
> been yapping his head off at me at least once a doy for years.  I love
> dogs, but come on!  If he doesn't even notice that he isn't making any
> sound, where is the cruelty?  If they want to let their debarked dog run
<snip>
 
Dogs have only two ways of communicating - body language and barking. While
human and canine vocabularies obviously differ greatly in scale, it is not
unreasonable to compare "debarking" a dog to "devoicing" a human.
 
Depending on the dogs environment, debarking him may put him at danger. Dogs
bark for a number of reasons; among them are to defend themselves, to warn
other animals to stay away, to alert their owners that there is "something"
going on (admittedly, dogs bark at the weirdest things), and sometimes just
to get attention. If the dog is being chained outside, barking is it's first
line of defense against attacks by raccoons, foxes or other wildlife.
 
However, I am not categorically against debarking - it may be necessary in
extreme situations.  But there are a number of steps to take before
considering such drastic measures.  By using behavior modification the dog
can be trained not to bark without a good reason.  Failing that, "no-bark"
collars exist that give a mild shock when pre-determined thresholds of bark
volume or frequency are exceeded.  To me, is sounds like your neighbors took
the lazy way out.
 
And for everyone who had the patience to wade through my long-winded,
narrow- minded lecture, here is the ferret story:
 
I had Milo for only a month or so before I decided it was time for a bath.
(For *him*, not me!) I was new to ferrets (and ferret-proofing a house), but
thought I had things pretty well under control.  Lotsa towels, turned up the
heat in the house so the critters wouldn't get chilled.  Milo's bath went
off without a hitch, and he went nuts around the house while I bathed
Beaner.  I finished Beaner, and while she went nuts I started looking for
Milo.  "Hmmm, not in any of the usual places..." <look look look>.  "Nope,
not in any of the *unusual* places, either" <worrylook worrylook worrylook>.
"Uh oh, he's gone!" <franticlook franticlook franticlook>.  "Ah-ha!  here he
is!" He had crawled through the gap underneath the kitchen cabinets.  So now
I know where he is; how do I get him out?  Well, shaking a raisin box has
always working before.  <shake shake shake> Hmm, no reaction.  Squeek toys!
<squeek squeek squeek> Geez, he's not even moving!  Matter of fact, it
doesn't even look like he's breathing.  Oh no!  The gap was far too small
for me to get my hand through, so I got a ruler, stuck it through and
started poking at him <poke poke poke>.  No reaction.  OH NO!  I start
sliding him around with the ruler.  No reaction.  OHMIGOD I GAVE MY FERRET A
BATH AND KILLED HIM!  <cry cry cry> MY BABY FERRET IS DEAD!  I got out a
hammer and started pounding on the baseboard - I have to get him out - maybe
it's not too late <POUND POUND POUND> Big enough for my hand?  Not yet
<POUND POUND POUND> Yet?  No <POUND POUND POUND> Finally the hole is big
enough to get my hand through.  I pull him out and hold my dead ferret in my
palms <wail wail wail>.  He opens his eyes, yawns a little and gives me that
"hey, what's the big idea, I was sleeping!" look.  <overflowing tears of
joy>.  Through all that poking and sliding, and pounding a hammer only
inches from his head - he had been sound asleep!
 
I must've hugged him for an hour after that...
 
----
Matthew Hepp                              One good thing about repeating
ESE, CAD/CAM Applications                 your mistakes is that you
Electronic Data Systems                   know when to cringe.
Troy, MI
[Posted in FML issue 1362]