I am pretty sure Kim has spoken for many people on this list with her criticism of this needless ferret death, myself included. It is an amazement to me that Kim has gotten more criticism than the person who foolishly let her ferret be fatally injured. She had angry words to say because the incident *angered* her. It angered me, as well. I am sure we are not the only two. Many ferret keepers have made fatal mistakes, which were accidents, but were nonetheless their fault. We post our mistakes on here wanting empathy when we mess up, and I would not argue with that. But no one ever seems to want to take anybody's anger about it, either. Well, that's not reality. We're told we shouldn't "judge" people. Really? Well, we judge the world *outside* our community pretty severely when *it* messes up. I don't know how many angry words I have read.. viscious, scathing words about people who have abused or neglected ferrets outside of this community. And rightly so. So, when someone *inside* this community does something foolish, causing the death of a ferret, why should *they* be immune? Because they *know* about ferrets? That should make them *more* accountable for their actions and the subsequent reactions they receive, not less. And make this a "learning experience?" For who? Certainly not the dead ferret. If that ferret had survived the mishandling it received, all it would have learned is not to trust humans. We are shepherds for the animals under our care. Having these children experience ferrets to "help" should have been a low, low priority - making sure the ferrets were safe and supervised should have been the top priority. Isn't that the point of rescuing ferrets - to make sure that they are safe, first and foremost? If you are rescuing ferrets, then at this point you should not need this kind of "learing experience." Kim has said enough about this. I don't need to go further. We call everything an "accident," but sometimes it's simply being foolish and irresponsible. If you do something foolish and irresponsible, *and you post about it*, be prepared to take your lumps. This self-righteous indignation annoys me. There will be people to give you empathy, always. And there will be some like me who are *not* so sympathetic. Deal with it, like we all do. It's reality. It's survivable. There's a point to feeling guilty and ashamed when you do something foolish - to make sure it resides in you so you will not do this foolish thing again. Maybe you should let yourself experience those feelings for awhile, instead of expecting *everyone* to be empathetic. Feelings and words, criticism and empathy - none of this will bring the ferret back. This is probably what you should be trying to remember, not trying to forget so quickly. [RZ] [Posted in FML 6580]