>But I did give up some small animals right before my breakdown and >hospitalization years ago. i can understand what you went thru, i really can...i wasnt as bad as you but i was bad....people arent getting mad at people like you (rather like you were)... everyone goes thru hard times...some of us can handle it and some of us break...i think what people get mad about is not a mental breakdown but the people who dont want to make the comitment...you get an animal and then well something in your life goes wrong and the first thing you do is throw it away...i can understand if you PHYSICAL cannot handle it becasue you are having a mental breakdown...if thats the case then you cant handle children anyway...but to get rid of an animal because it doesnt fit your lifestyle is out of the question...if you can do that...then whats to say you wont do that with your spouse or your child? thats my point...i have 4 kids...21 animals and a husband who is dying...sometimes i think that i cannot go on..and while it is harder than hell...I DO GO ON!!! i made a commitment to m husband first..then i made the commitment to my children and the it was to my animals...i owe them and myself...they didnt ask to come into this world and they didnt ask to live with me...but since i took the responsibilty i will keep the responsibilty...because i am that way...i dont want to be part of the problem...i want to be part of the solution...if everyone took their responsibilty seriously there would not be dogs and cats and ferrets and other animals put to death every year or turned lose in the desert or BRED in our backyards...or even bred because "i just want one litter"...think about it...im not critcizing anyone... when you have a mental problem (which i have had ) its like the end of the world...but you know you pick yourselves up by your bootstraps and you go on...you have too..but you do not do it at the exspence of your animals or another living being...people sshould think about the whole picture and not just what is in front of there face...you can have a baby and take care of your ferret...you dont throw out your ferret and get a puppy...do you know what i mean? sincerly, trudie [Posted in FML issue 3577]