>From:    Brigitte Grov <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: To do what is best for the ferret
>...Is death always bad?  And for who is it bad?
>
>The letter that made me actually respond was yesterdays posting about the
>special needs ferret needing a home and how the owner did not want to make
>the decision to euthanise her.  It does not seem to me that a ferret that
>can't walk, can't eat, drink or pass feces without help has quality of
>life, it would be a great act of love to put her to sleep.
>
>But, you might say, this ferret is not in any pain.  I agree, the ferret
>might not be in any physical pain.  Imagine seeing a human relative in
>this situation, you would say he was being held alive to die, with no
>quality of life.  For a human the matter of self-respect also comes in,
>but imagine it still.  The ferret is used to bouncing about and exploring,
>now none of its natural behaviours are available to him.  I find it rather
>selfish how people keep their pets alive in severely handicapped
>conditions, when they would be better off being put to sleep.
 
Wow Brigitte,
 
It must be nice to have all the answers before you even have a ferret!  The
same thing is done with people all the time.  To do otherwise is called
murder.  Do you actually think these people walking around with Alzheimer's
disease are happy?  Not in their lucid moments they aren't.  These
decisions are very hard to make, mainly because the ferrets will get a
little better and increase the owners hope for recovery.
 
Just thought I would add my unsolicited .02
 
Fuzzie Dad
Rascal,Treble,Cocoa,Moose,Charlotte,
Screech,Havoc,Casey,Hanna,Dodger,
Sampson, Rainbow & Squeeky
Never forgetting Loki & Spaz!
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5886
 
[Posted in FML issue 3038]