>From:    Regina Harrison <[log in to unmask]>
>>From:    Catherine Shaffer <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: Ferret population explosion, "abused" ferrets
>>There are surely a whole lot of people out there who are mean to their
>>animals..... On the other hand, I have seen a tendency for people to very
>>quickly assign the title of "abusive" to former ferret homes based on a
>>ferret's behavior... Some ferrets are born biters or born skittish ...
 
>Hi Catherine--
>I don't know if this was intended as commentary on Cully's story or not, but
 
I'm very sorry if anyone thought this was a personal attack.  This is
something that has been knocking around in my head, and I thought I might
share these thoughts with the rest of you's.  It is indeed an injustice when
someone is wrongly charged with a crime.  It is also an injustice when
animal (or child, or domestic, etc.) abuse is ignored or brushed off because
someone in a position to know doesn't want to think about it.  Let's not
ignore our suspicions, but let's do be suspicious of our suspicions, ya know
what I mean?
 
This reminds me of a discussion I read on a bulletin board where a woman
posted that she thought her neighbors might be abusing their child because
of the constant crying.  Because of stupid advice she got on the NET (It may
be a handicapped child, some children cry a lot, maybe you should offer to
babysit for them, blah blah blah) she did nothing.  Another neighbor called
Child Protective Services and it turns out the baby was abused.  I guess I'm
trying to take say, take the idea of abuse seriously.  Do what you need to
investigate a questionable situation without defaming someone who may be
innocent.
 
Sending warm fuzzy thoughts to Cully,
Catherine Shaffer
[Posted in FML issue 1758]