I'm somewhat bemused by the responses to my previous posting concerning an
obviously preferred method of putting an animal down and the bewildering,
very ugly phrasing of "blowing their brains out."  There is a tremendous
difference between two nearly bloodless holes and the ugly phrasing above.
 
Admittedly killing your beloved ferret is not the nicest thing to talk,
write, or even think about.  But, by golly, some day, if you haven't
already experienced the merciful killing of your dear ferret, that very
experience may very well be silently waiting for you just around the
corner.  Maybe, just maybe, if you take a little time to steel yourself and
gather some information on the subject, your reaction with your rendezvous
with death may be a little easier to deal with.  I certainly hope so,
because, regardless of what you think of me for writing about this subject,
you shall realize that there are good and bad ways to perform a most
unpleasant task, the task of playing God.
 
Don't for the moment think that the "clinical" method is by any means
superior to what I must necessarily describe to you following.  As has
already been mentioned in the January 29ths posting, you'll have to talk
like hell to convince him(or her, the veterinarian) to let you view the
procedure I'm familiar with and totally abhor.  At this point, I should
like to invite a veterinarian to describe in detail the normal method
currently in use involving the penetration into the ventral thorax of the
ferret with an exceedingly large gauge needle to administer a lethal dose
of poison into a screaming and struggling ferret.  It is an ugly scene and
therefore not overly suprising that you are prohibited from seeing in done.
 
Not too many of us have been trained to be a sniper; by that I mean
conducting gun control; gun control means putting your bullet exactly where
you intend to put it on target.  I would invite you to contact your local
police department and talk to the officer of the swat team who is the
designated sniper in his squad, or drop in to your local gun collectors
show and pick up a copy of the US Army training manual for the sniper.
 
Consider the scene of a gunman holding his hostage in a choke grip around
his neck and with his other hand pressing upon the hostage's temple a
"cocked" pistol, the gunman's finger tight around the trigger of his gun.
This is a very touchy situation that, however, can be controlled easily by
a skilled marksman and sniper.  The sniper's bullet enters the gunman's
head just above either eye and preferably normal to the ear-to-ear axis
line of the head.
 
The electrically explosive shock to the brain of the gunman from the
passing high velocity boat-tailed full metal jacketed ball (bullet, but
"ball" is the military term) instantaneously, within a microsecond or so,
discharges the nervous system with a monumental shock so severe that any
possible reflex action on the part of the gunman is impossible.  He never
squeezes that trigger on his gun, he never hears the report of the rifle,
and any pain inflicted upon his body, if any, is of a microsec or so also.
 
The gunman so hit goes down as though he had been pummeled by a giant
sledge hammer hitting him flat on top of his head.  He is dead before he
slams to the ground.  Sounds pretty brutal, huh.  Yeah, sure, but it's the
quickest and least painful way possible to kill a human being.  As said by
some, "he never knew what hit him, never heard it or saw it coming, didn't
feel a thing, and he was a dead man walking," as goes the saying.
 
Now extrapolate this to the ferret which is shot at point blank range.
Point blank range means nearly touching.  The ferret is still, it is not
struggling, and death drops on the relaxed ferret instantaneously in a
flash.  One moment here and the next moment - gone, and this can be done
while the ferret's owner is clasping the ferret in its last loving embrace.
This method of euthanizing any animal is so superior to the injection of
poison into a screaming and struggling ferret that I find it incredulous
that any one with this knowledge would elect the "clinical" method.  Don't
love and mercy go hand in hand?
 
Please give this subject your most thoughtful contemplation and then post
on the FML whether on not you love me.  I'd like to keep score.
 
Oh, by the way, today was squirrel number 223 which my mink is dining on
this very minute.  Tomorrow Miss Maggie, my beautifully colored black,
white, and iradescent azure magpie, will share in the "leftovers."
 
drawdE iksnipiL  Two years as a "sniper" during the Korean War serving
with the US Navy six years.
 
[Moderator's note: I'd like to ask that we end this topic, please.  It's
like trying to debate the death penalty -- it will go on and on without
resolution.
 
My take on the subject: all ferret euthanasias (by injection) I have
witnessed were done with the utmost sensitivity and did not stress the
ferret.  And if injection isn't one's preferred method, other humane
methods, such as over-exposure to anesthesia, are available.
 
Ed has described an alternate method which he claims works for him.  Fine,
now we know about it.  But the debate stops here -- I'm not going to waste
everyone's time and patience talking about how many squirrels he shot.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 2572]