Dear VK-

My dog Allis never hurt a ferret or any other companion animal of
mine in an eleven-year time period. Not my cow, not my sheep, not
my potbellies, not my cats, not my chickens, not my ducks, not my
hedgehogs, not my ferrets, nor any person. There was no warning
that this dog was a threat. None.

Not in the first year.
Not in the second year. 
Not in the third year.
Not in the fourth year.
Not in the fifth year.
Not in the sixth year.
Not in the seventh year.
Not in the eighth year.
Not in the ninth year.
Not in the tenth year. 
Not in the eleventh year, and not five minutes before before the killing. 
Not four minutes before the killing.
Not three minutes before the killing. 
Not two minutes before the killing.
Not one minute before the killing. 
Not thirty seconds before the killing, or fifteen, or ten, or five,
or even one second before the killing.

Ping bit her back foot and she whirled on him as fast as a wolf can,
and picked him up in her teeth and shook him like a rag. The whole
thing from beginning to end might have taken three seconds, and no,
I did not see it coming.

I did not see it coming. 

Not in the first year.
Not in the second year. 
Not in the third year.
Not in the fourth year.
Not in the fifth year.
Not in the sixth year.
Not in the seventh year.
Not in the eighth year.
Not in the ninth year.
Not in the tenth year. 
Not in the eleventh year, and not five minutes before before the killing. 
Not four minutes before the killing.
Not three minutes before the killing. 
Not two minutes before the killing.
Not one minute before the killing. 
Not thirty seconds before the killing, or fifteen, or ten, or five,
or even one second before the killing.

When my dog Allis witnessed another dog kill my ferret in someone
else's apartment connected by a door to mine, (one negligently left
open by someone other than me) it never occurred to me to me that she
was now tainted by the experience. It did not occur to me that she
would (obviously, what was I thinking, what kind of dumb*uck am I
anyway) kill a ferret years down the line because of what she had
seen. No doubt a more perceptive person would have understood that
inevitably, she would kill someday because of seeing what she did. I
am not that person.

You have no idea what sort of measures were taken after the fact to
ensure that the killing dog never had access to a ferret again. Moving
was perhaps the most effective, although admittedly a bit drastic.
You have no idea what measures I am currently effecting in my home to
ensure that Allis never, ever hurts a ferret again.

If it pleases you to believe that I have twice killed ferrets by my
own personal negligence and am bound to lose a third so be it. I don't
begrudge you your right to have an opinion. I might wish it were a
little bit better informed.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 6086]