Sukie Crandall wrote:
>Okay, I understand now that there is bad blood between the two groups
>and that means that has to be taken into account.
 
No, there is bad blood between EVERYONE who assisted with the Titusville
rescue and one person who wants to cause trouble.
 
>Susie, WHY would they have been euthanized?  That REALLY confuses me.
>Could you, please, find out which humane official at which office made
>that statement and if there may have been a misunderstanding because
>if it is not one then work needs to start toward changing that policy.
 
Why does California not allow ferret ownership?  It is the same lack of
understanding or inability to grasp facts.  (They bite or we can't feed
them or we just can't deal with them because they are exotic pets) The
point is that ferrets do not enjoy the same attitudes as dogs and cats.
That Humane Society is not the first city's HS to make such a statement.
The rescues in each area work hard to develop a relationship with their
local HS so that the ferrets are not put down.
 
>That solution has happened time and time again and it prevents many
>reoccurrences -- a really major concern.   From the news article
>(which isn't from the conflicting parties) it appears that that couple
>is maybe already repeating the abuses so a person really has to wonder
>if charges could have saved some animals in the meantime.
 
The couple is not repeating the abuses.  The case has to do with what has
already happened.  I doubt with the trouble they are seeing, that they
will ever be able to obtain any sort of licensing.
 
>There are just some statements which aren't stand-alones.  When a
>statement is made that the animals would be destroyed then one HAS to
>wonder:
> - Why?
> - Who is the source?
> - Could there have been a miscommunication?
> - What compromises may have been able to be worked out (esp. since that
>   has succeeded so many places before now)?
> - What can be done to prevent that from being the case in the future?
 
How about the phone call that was the impetuous and just started
*everyone* overreacting?
 
>Okay, but the reality is that once removed there all too often no
>longer is any legal option.
 
So, you are saying that the wrong decision was made.  That the decision
to get the ferrets out and not allow them to be euthanized was wrong.  We
should have left them in there, let her friend(s) at the HS go in and
slap her hand and feel really bad when nothing happens on the legal front
and leave the ferrets to die when Jennifer refuses to allow us to rescue
any?  Keep in mind that one ferret died the next day, that all of the
ferrets had no food or water or access to sunlight in that shed, and tens
of others were in such bad shape that they needed immediate medical
attention.  You say that we should have waited until the legal battle
could have been won?  Please.
 
It is very easy to sit many many miles away and make decisions based upon
limited experience with the situation.  Who better than Marie, Michelle,
and others to make that decision than someone removed?  They deserve the
respect of you and others that they made the right decision and not to be
given grief because your opinion differs from them.  Have you ever spoken
directly with Michelle to see what her thought were on this before you
began questioning it in public?  I know for a fact that no one has spoken
with Michelle about this because she and I discussed it last night on the
phone.
 
>It is hard that those most likely to repeat tend to have the types of
>problems which make them most frightening to rescuers because those
>behaviors make one think any action may be possible sometimes.
 
Yes, that is unfortunate.  However, I don't think that I've ever heard
the term, "Legal Enforcer" included with (Fill in the blank)
Ferret/Dog/Cat Rescue.
 
>On the night of the rescue, I found court documents...
 
The court documents indicated that their had been a dispute between the
Sypiens and their neighbors.  Jennifer was pressing charges against her
neighbor.  That is all.  Don't read more into it than was stated.
 
I want to bring two additional points to light in these discussions.
First, how many of you have actually participated in a rescue of more
than 30 ferrets?  Unless you have been involved *personally*, you have
NO idea of how much work is involved.  The number of details to attend
to is ridiculous.  I remember that first week following the learning of
the ferrets, Michelle was sleeping only a few hours a week while trying
to learn a new job.
 
I, even being removed, spent hours on the phone each day and night.
There is food, water bottles and bottled water, litter, carriers, cages,
hammocks, ferretone, and medical supplies to be gathered, arrange
volunteers to drive/to triage/to clean cages/to sort all the donations,
and interact with everyone who is donating something.  I know I am
leaving out lots of things, but my point is that it is very easy to sit
back in your comfortable home in your easy chair with life very calm
around you and make pronouncements about how things should have been
done.
 
Next, regardless of whether or not you agree with how the situation
proceeded or have been resolved, you owe Michelle and everyone else
involved in that rescue the respect they deserve.  They were the ones
on the front line and they made the best decisions that could have been
made with all of the available information.  Rather than giving anyone
involved with this situation a hard time, how about respecting those
decisions and being for the ferrets?  Go to the rescue's website, make
a difference.  Make a donation.  Be for the ferrets.
[Posted in FML issue 4299]