First, please forgive the typos..  I don't use spellcheck unless I am at
work where it's mandatory..  so if it sounds like, looks like..  thats
what it probably is.
 
(Just and FYI..  when I say animal, I don't mean it as a bad thing..  I
say animal because there are people who have cats, dogs, rats, birds,
ferrets, horses, pigs..  etc.)
 
I have two wonderful human children.  I love them more than anything in
this world.  I cannot fathom anything bad every happening to them.  They
are my reason for living, and somehow as screwed up as the world is..
they make things seem alright.  My animals are part of the family.  When
one of my critters passes on, it devastates me.  It hurts very much.
 
Many people view their critters as their children because some of them
do not have human children.  To say that their animals are not their
children is a slap in the face to them.  The love their animals with
all their hearts..  those animals ARE their family.  They ARE their
children..  when one of them passes, it is like you and I losing our
human children.  When their animals get sick it IS like you and I taking
our children to the doctors and fretting over them.  Often times, these
people are treated cruelly by a society that thinks that animals are just
pets, nothing more than that.  They get laughed at for spending lots of
money to keep a sick animal alive, they get laughed at for crying when
their animal passes... people act like they are insane because they keep
pictures of their beloved pets on their desks at work or in their wallet.
They get told that these animals aren't their kids..  and other hurtful
things like "Why don't you just put it to sleep" when they have surgery
done on their animal to save it's life.
 
Of course..  lots of people with animals love them dearly and treat them
like part of their family.  That is just who we are.
 
The FML is a GREAT place to pick up information and get help..  it's
also a nice place to share stories of your fuzzies, share when they pass
(course, I could be mistaken..  but when a beloved pet passes, don't you
need help to recover from it?  Isn't that what the FML is for?  To help
fuzzie people?), it's a place where shelters can raise funds to take care
of the fuzzies that are abandoned, it's a place where all fuzzie lovers
are welcome, regardless of your color, religious beliefs, how much money
you make, etc.
[Posted in FML issue 3904]