Kat,
 
You assume I have no emotions about stuff.  I do.  I have plenty of
emotion and fire for the belief I hold concerning the way ferrets are
treated.  I hate to see ferrets in pet stores.  Most pet stores really
don't treat them very well, and some treat them outright badly, mostly
out of ignorance.  And let's not even mention the plane ride to GET to
the pet store.  The more ferrets sold out of pet stores, the more
Marshall and Path make.  You can do what you want to do, of course, but
this is what happens.
 
And it happens mostly because someone went into a pet store without
knowing anything about ferrets, decided they were cute, and then brought
one home thinking they were getting some kind of hamster or cat or
something.  And when they realize that ferrets are hard to take care of,
well, guess what happens next.  You see posts on this list all the time -
people looking for homes for ferrets that they just can't take care of
any more.  Or plain just don't want to.  I would just as soon someone who
was going to buy a ferret knew what they were getting into, and used THAT
rationale to decide whether or not they really wanted a ferret as a pet.
To me, it's a lifetime commitment.  I strongly believe in forever homes
for ferrets.  Which requires some thinking and planning beforehand.  Not
just a simple-minded "it was meant to be".
 
If you don't fit that bill, then fine, this post wasn't about you.  But
one thing your post DID do was to encourage that kind of "it was meant to
be" thinking.  I think that's the wrong thing to encourage.
 
You might not agree with my next statement, but I've said it before and
I'll say it again, narrow or not:
 
The whole reason Marshall and Path manufacture ferrets like automobiles
is because of us - the people who love and desire ferrets.  Back when
ferrets were just a lab animal, the number of ferrets bred for this
purpose was nowhere near what it is today.  It's ironic that the very
people who love ferrets the most are the cause of their increased numbers
[and also for the problems that come with those increased numbers].  I'm
a part of that bunch too, so this isn't some self-righteous statement.
I just know what the truth is.  And I don't have any great solutions to
the problem, except maybe to not buy so many of them.  This is why I
strongly discourage impulse buying of ferrets.  The "it was meant to be"
thing does just the opposite [especially if the person reading it doesn't
know all that much about ferrets].
 
And as far as my ending tag - fine, go ahead, switch the words if it
makes you feel better.  But I think you're wrong.  When you take care of
a sick child you're not "feeling" love, you're acting it out.  Which is
an action.  Nobody gets great "loving feelings" from changing a diaper
[or changing a litter box], but you DO get satisified emotions, which
many would consider "love", during and after those actions because of
the RESULTS of those actions.  Nobody gets wonderful "loving feelings"
by THINKING about changing the litter box.  You don't fall in love
with someone because you THINK they might love you back [unless you're
thirteen].  You fall in love with them because you saw something in
them that made you take a postive action towards them, and then they
recipricated with their own actions.  "Love" happens because two people
DO something.
 
Don't get me wrong, Kat.  I understood the spirit of your post.  You have
great love for your guys in the true sense, I would bet.  But think about
what you might be encouraging.  If I didn't see this kind of mentality
propagated so much and so loosely I might never have posted anything.
You took my post as a personal attack.  Which is why, I guess, you felt
the need to personally email me and then repeat that email on this list
[somewhat cleaned up].  I was attacking the idea of what you said, not
you.  I don't even know you.  Some of your ideas were troubling me, not
you.  Let's not get those two things confused, OK?
 
Using only emotions or only logic in any situation is like using one
oven mitt to take the cake out of the oven.  You're gonna get burned -
and then drop the cake.  Not good for you - not good for the cake.
 
Roary
Albuquerque, NM
[Posted in FML issue 3963]