Okay, having read often in the past about situations in which people
decided to either to destroy and animal or do something unpleasant and just
plain idiotic to it (like declawing) I can understand how a vet can be
trapped in the middle in such situations, so STOP BLAMING THE VET, and read
on.  If the vet is in the situations below and absolutely can't talk sense
into a person or get the person to accept the logical solution of turning
the ferret over to a shelter then the problem is NOT the vet.  The problems
are the client and the laws.  What if the person says "Well, I know that
such and such a vet WILL do it." but the vet knows that the vet named has
never worked on a ferret and is likely to kill it?  What if the person has
asked every other vet in town and says, "Well, either you declaw the ferret
or I turn it loose in the woods"?  The problem in such ultimate situations
is NOT the vet!  The problem is the jerk who OWNS the ferret -- and I
emphasized that word because the vet is TRAPPED by current PET OWMERSHIP
LAWS and their affects on laws which vets have to follow -- laws which
need to be CHANGED!
 
I well recall when the vets near us offered FREE medical help and adoption
to a man who COULD afford the medical care the dog needed after being hit
by a car, but the man refused to treat, let the dog linger and then ordered
him to be destroyed.  Everyday we saw them (Had a very sick pet then who
required a lot of multiple vet visits.) the vets and others at the hospital
would be found in tears over this dog.  Know why the man destroyed him?  He
hated the idea of a three legged dog!!!!!!  The vets were TRAPPED by the
LAWS!!!!  So, blame the laws and work to change them, and blame the jerks
who have pets for the wrong reasons, but if a vet has tried everything and
those options have failed, and the vet is sure that the animal will die
otherwise then think about how YOU would feel if you were trapped like
that!!!!!!!!!!
 
The EASY target is NOT always the RIGHT target!
 
Karen Purcell is "Dr. Karen".  Karen Rosenthal who used to be at the AMC
and si the one now ( at U. Penn? ) doing the research is a different
person.  She's a sweetie, too.  We HAVE made donations to major veterinary
universities for health studies to help ferrets in the past, so I expect
that SHOULD be possible in this case, too.
[Posted in FML issue 2951]