I've been working extra in order to get a few more days off for my trip,
so I haven't had time for reading my email. Tonight, as I was deleting
spam and organizing the mail into piles I had time respond to, piles to
try to find time to respond to, and piles I would need a 40 hour day and
no sleep to respond to, I came across an invitation to join a group that
promotes the blacklisting of people in an attempt to prevent their
ability to adopt.
On the surface, the idea sounds like it would help ferrets, and we
all want that. But, to me, perhaps of my own seemingly outmoded and
unpopular levels of ethics, it sounds too much like Joe McCarthyism. I
see no criteria other than accusation, no effort to confirm the charges,
and no means to remove a name if erroneously or maliciously listed. It
does NOT appear to be a site that only lists those names of people that
have been convicted in a court of law of such crimes, but will list
anyone at the urging of any member. I cannot support this idea in ANY
way, shape or form. It is wrong. It is unethical. In a country that
prides itself on assuming a person is innocent until PROVED guilty, it
is un-American. It is ultimately immoral.
Rather than arguing why the group is wrong on moral and ethical grounds
(so very few people seem to care about a discussion of ethics), I will
hereby summit my OWN name to the group for blacklisting. Here are the
charges I make against myself about how I treat ferrets:
1) I will NOT cage my ferrets unless they are ill or require immobility!
2) I DO feed my ferrets bones -- a lot of them, including raw and cooked
chicken bones!
3) I ONLY feed my ferrets 2 or 3 times a day, will not leave food behind
for them to eat "if they get hungry," and the meals sometimes include
uncooked chicken, turkey, or duck!
4) I will NOT give my ferrets any carbohydrate-laced treats, including
Cheerios, raisins, candy, or potato or corn chips!
5) I frequently MOVE my ferret's nest boxes and food dishes around the
room so they are forced to hunt for them!
6) I will NEVER force any of my ferrets into a "time-out" lasting more
than 3-5 minutes, regardless of their behavior!
7) I LET my ferrets go outside and dig in dirt, leaf-litter, and rotten
logs!
8) I FREQUENTLY feed my ferrets raw, fresh frozen, mice and young rats!
9) I do NOT give my ferrets a bath unless they are covered in poop!
10) I ALLOW my ferrets to play in plastic shopping bags!
11) My ferrets are NOT allowed into my bedroom at any time, or my kitchen
without an escort!
12) I will NEVER give ferrets untested medicines, herbal or otherwise,
without a veterinarian's verbal consent and constant supervision!
There are worse charges!
13) I will quit a group, even one moderated by good friends, if I am
forced to choose them before personal ethics.
14) I will not join, nor remain in a group, unless I am assured the
moderators are held to some reviewable ethical standard of conduct.
15) I will never betray a friend, even if I think what they are doing is
wrong, unless their actions cause harm to others.
16) I will not choose one friend over another, but will council the one I
think is wrong, making every effort to preserve my friendship with both.
17) I think censorship of opinion is a grievous offence to humanity.
18) I will not allow the popularity or image of a person to influence my
interpretation of their actions or ethics.
19) I will not force people to maintain their ferrets in my fashion, to
my standards, or even to my way of thinking.
There, you now have 19 reasons why I should NOT be allowed to adopt a
ferret. Every person on the FML could probably object to at least one of
my listed reasons, finding "just cause" to blacklist me. Please, place
me on your site and blacklist me from future adoption! Just keep in mind
the motto off the rattlesnake flag from the US Revolution; I will.
Bob C (With more faults than a California earthquake zone)
[Posted in FML issue 4138]
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