Re: radio talk show
Hi--this is for Michelle (I think?) in response to doing the radio show with
the humane society woman who you met under rather unpleasant circumstances.
 
I think your idea of asking this woman to come and meet your ferrets is very
good. What animal lover could resist the charm of these little guys? However,
she may not wish to come to your house. Is there some neutral territory or
better yet, a neutral third person who knows both of you, who could arrange a
meeting somewhere else? Maybe if she saw the ferrets and learned something
about them, perhaps she would change her mind. (Maybe yes, maybe no.
Unfortunately, some people who really like cats or dogs may be freaked out by
anything that's low to the ground and has a long tail.)
 
This reminds me of a rather heated discussion I had the other day with a friend
about breeding wolf hybrids. Although we both love animals, we have very
different feelings about this issue. About halfway through the argument, I
thought, "This is nuts. Why are we arguing about this? We both care about what
happens to these animals, but we see things differently." In my opinion, the
last thing you want to do is get into a heated argument over the air about
ferrets--with someone else who loves animals. If you really think it would not
be possible to have a good, open discussion with her, I would see if you can
arrange to be on the show by yourself another time so that you can present the
topic better. Better for you, better for the ferrets. Also, who is the host of
the show? Some talk show hosts are so confrontational that you may not want to
be on anyway. I would definitely check this out ahead of time.
 
There are plenty of people out there who think animal issues are stupid,
irrelevant, etc. I think those of us who really care about animals need to try
to work together more instead of being divisive among ourselves. It's possible
that this woman could become an ally; and if not, I would not enter into a
heated argument over the air with her. Good luck; I hope it works out.
 
--Cinderella's Mom
 
[Posted in FML issue 0819]