My mail box was not full of flames and threats, but of several honest
people who have either been witness to the ramifications of legalization
and merchandising abuse of Ferrets or are opened minded enough to believe
what I am telling them is true based on several years of fighting for the
legalization of ferrets in Salt Lake County, Utah.
 
A few people share the idea that we tried here in Utah, and that is try
to get people educated before they are allowed to purchase the ferret, but
it will only work if the animal control office wants it to work.  If they
enforce the regulation on the pet stores it will work, but most animal
controls are too busy financing their latest and greatest idea of how to
prevent animal cruelty and not focusing on the actual problem and that is
enforce the laws in place and if there are non, get them.
 
Our society will never take animal cruetly to the level it should be.
While we have jackasses throwing dogs into traffic and burying puppies in
backyards and only receiving minimal sentences or punishments, our society
is more focused on developing new ways to deal with the problems than
solving them.  Call me old fashioned, but who ever decided to cut down the
old hickory tree was an idiot.
 
For you youngsters, the hickory tree was where your parents sent you to
cut off a branch to be spanked with.  Not beaten to a pulp, but spanked.
The punishment was not the actual act of being spanked, it was being
forced to walk out to the large tree, cut off the branch and walk back
into the house.  The time to think about what you did was the punishment.
Also, the hickory tree was used to string up the outlaws of days of old,
but that is no longer allowed.
 
So am I saying that if someone beats or abuses an animal he should be
hung, maybe, but he should not be fined, he should be punished.  For all
those die hard christains out there, and eye for an eye works for me.  You
lock your animal in a cage for its entire life, well, lets do the same to
you.  I bet it would only take a few prime and well publicized examples
before the message is put out that cruelty is cruel and will not be
tolerated in our society.  We love our animals and are not going to allow
ignorant human garbage abuse them any longer, nor are we going to allow
merchants to exploit them.  We can begin to stop animal cruelty by
stopping the explotation of them in pet shops and backyard breeding
facilities.
 
Just a thought
Rick
U.F.O.
[Posted in FML issue 3602]