I don't want this to get out of hand, but ya'll gotta know how I feel about
children who are bitten by ferrets.  If a baby crawls off the balcony and
is injured, or gets into some poison, or eats some of mommy and daddy
drugs, or pulls down a pan of hot grease on the stove???  Who should get
the blame???  Certainly not the balcony, poison, drugs or the hot grease!!!
It should be the neglectful parent!
 
We recently rescued two ferrets from a home where daddy was taking a
shower, and the family parrot got down off of his perch and bit off a
couple of fingers of an 8 month old baby and tore off the nails and tips
of a few others.  The police were going to have the ferrets destroyed.
The parrot was given to a friend before any one arrived at the scene.  The
ferrets were given to these people by someone else who also gave them our
name when they transferred ownership.  they called us while the police were
there and when I arrived and was told the story, I asked the police why the
ferrets were having to pay the ultimate price for something that they had
no part in.  There answer was "because we say so".  I explained to them
that it was vwery wrong and unethical what they were getting ready to do,
and that if the owner agreed to let me take them, would they?
 
At first they were reluctant, but when animal control arrived ( they know
me very well), they explained to the police that they would just turn the
ferrets over to me anyway and that if I didn't leave with the ferrets,
they would probably see their names in the local newapaper tommorrow as
the jerks who wrongly condemned the ferrets and the police dept they
worked for.
 
I left with the ferrets.  The parents were charged with neglect and the
child was removed from the home and the parrot got away scot free.
 
The moral of this sad but true story, never, ever, leave any child alone
with any pet.  To do so could but tragic for the victim, the animal, and
the parents.
 
nuff said,
Ferretguy
[Posted in FML issue 3105]