Mary Catharine Kuruziak wrote:
>I make a motion that no one on this list use that expression [get rid of]
>ever again in reference to a ferret...do I hear any seconders for it?
 
I wholeheartedly agree.  And while we're on the subject of language, I'd
like to ask the FML community for more careful, accurate use of the word
"euthanasia." Euthanasia, according to Merriam Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary, is "the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of
hopelessly sick or injured individuals (as persons or domestic animals) in a
relatively painless way for reasons of mercy." When people ask their
veterinarian to provide a humane death for a beloved ferret suffering from
an incurable illness, this is euthanasia.  Euthanasia, by definition,
involves compassion for the individual animal.  In contrast, public health
and animal control officers do not "euthanize" ferrets, they kill them.
 
Clare Sebok
[Posted in FML issue 2223]