In a message dated 6/6/03 5:43:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "J. Gordon Bengtson writes: >I have answered each personally who expressed concern for my recent loss >of Nibble-ed. It is most heart warming to have such support on this >forum. > >These little guys are just animals, God gave us dominion over them >to use them as we choose. But he does expect us to treat life with >reverence even if we use some animals as food. Thankfully ferrets don't >cook up well. No, haven't tried it either. > >Our use for a ferret is for companionship, laughs, and just a little >fuzz ball to come home to who will make you laugh regardless of who we >bombed today or what happened at work. I don't know if I would say that companion animals are *just animals* anymore that we are *just animals*. It seems to me that you obvious grief at losing the company of Nibble-ed makes it doubtful that she was *just an animal*. /8> ) It seems to me that when *just animals* are loved by a humans they become more or less *humanized*, the way an experience of divine love makes humans more god-like. At any rate death, the *great democratizer*, creates an empathetic bond between all animals, human and non-human alike. Carol [Posted in FML issue 4172]