>I had a friend who had a snake that required live mice for food.  A
>couple time the mice got loose in the house and the ferrets found them.
>I don't think there's any question about what the ferrets did to the
>mice!  So I'm wondering if maybe feeding them live mice would be good
>for them ?  They certainly seemed to enjoy hunting and catching them.
>Any thoughts ?
>
>TIA Matt Claus
 
Thoughts ... yes ... undoubtedly I'm in the minority here since "it's
only a mouse," but it feels pain, anguish and fear every bit as much as
a ferret.  There are plenty of people who say "it's only a ferret" or
"it's only a dog," too.  Ferrets don't need live mice.  They may enjoy
hunting them but they also enjoy hunting squeak toys.  Why inflict such
torture on a living creature when it's so totally unnecessary?  One
great thing about being a human is we have the brain capacity (and the
conscience) to create and to choose perfectly viable, cruelty-free
alternatives.  The snake doesn't, the ferret doesn't, but we do.
[Posted in FML issue 5151]