Your post was unbelievable. Aside from the fact that an email that starts out accusing everyone else of being holier than thou is just about saturated with the most holier than thou attitude of the entire debate, I cannot believe that you can defend them. I've kept quiet so far, reading about these horrible conditions with silent horror, but now I've looked at the pictures on MFRAN's website. It just about broke my heart, and your defense of the people responsible for this atrocity is just unbelievable. >When we see actual physical abuse - striking ferrets hard for >"attitude adjustment"... What those ferrets are going through IS physical abuse. It's also neglect, and it's shameful. "Pampered prisses" have nothing to do with it. The fact of the matter is that it's freezing outside, with some very severe cold snaps, and those ferrets are without food, water or any real shelter. How are your ferrets housed? Do you leave them outside in cages with a pathetic attempt at shelter when the windchill is below 0? Do you allow mountains of feces to pile up under their cages? Do you give them only a frozen water bowl for water? Or are you one of those so-called "pampered prisses" who actually takes responsibility and provides proper housing for the ferrets in their care? >Doug is a kindly old man barely staying alive. You know what? I'm sorry that he has health problems, but this is a poor excuse to condone what he's doing. He's kind? Um, not really. "Kind" should extend to the animals in his care as well, and what he and his family are putting them through is about as far from kind as you can get. A truly kind person would understand the limitations of his health and do something to get those ferrets out of the hell they're in now. A truly kind (and intelligent) person would realize that putting intact males and females together is going to result in accidental litters and more ferrets that he can't take care of, which will further decrease the level of care. So I'm sorry, but I don't care about the "real life" of the people involved. I care about the horrendous conditions that those ferrets are "living" in. And guess what? I don't feel shame about that at all. Oh, and ferrets do come first for a lot of people. But I seriously doubt whether or not they come first with you, since you seem to think that DM and family are doing a bangup job. Krissy [Posted in FML 5541]