>I am sure I'll hear from some of you who disagree, but just remember. >If your one of those Ferret Parents who allows your Ferret to run free >while your gone and someday your Ferret comes up missing and ends up in >the mits, claws, or hands of a preditor. You only have yourself to >blame. >Rick >United Ferret Organization (excluding Mass) Although I appreciate Rick's dedication to ferrets, I just want to say that I am appalled by this attitude. Never, ever, ever imply that it's somebody's own "fault" when they lose their ferret or their ferret dies. There are a lot of loving, caring ferret parents on this list who don't cage their ferrets. I've owned ferrets for 9 years, and I've never caged my ferrets for more than short periods. I've never lost a ferret. And, I can safely say that my ferrets were just as safe, if not safer, from escaping than anyone else's. Why? Because the mentality is completely different when your ferrets run free. Everything is a potential hazard, all the time. There's no "I can't leave the door open, the ferrets are out", it's just "I can't leave the door open" period. Most cases I've heard of ferrets becoming lost involved "I had my ferrets out playing.." or "I went to put my ferret away for the night and...". Caging ferrets does not mean they won't escape. Unless you never let your ferrets out to play, there's a chance of them escaping. I could just as easily say "if you're one of those people who cage your ferret, and your ferret [has one of those awful cage-related accidents we hear about], you have only yourself to blame." I would never do that, it would be stupid and senseless. It's not "lazy" or "unloving" to give a ferret free-run. In fact it's a whole lot more work. We just love them enough to want them with us all the time, and consider it a more humane way to house them. And we have taken the care to make the environment safe for them to do just that. Can our ferrets have accidents or escape? Certainly. But so can yours. Do I think our way is better than yours? Certainly not, just different. Equal. And our personal choice. To imply that this poor lady brought her ferret's death on herself is simply elitist and cruel. Thank God she isn't on this list. That's the reason I'm upset. I don't give a fig if you think caging ferrets is better than letting them run free. That's your opinion. But your statement was no better than the jerk who wrote and told the lady who was inconsolable about stepping on her family's ferret that it was all her fault. Or the idiot who wrote the person who was asking about his ferret's diet, who told him that he didn't deserve to have a ferret, just because he can't afford Totally Ferret. We're supposed to be supportive here. Not judgmental and cruel. Even if Bandit's mom isn't on this list, there are a lot of people who still feel guilty about losing ferrets that are. - Nancy P.S. I know for a fact that my ferrets run around and play when nobody is there. I have corrugated plastic tubes for them to play in, I hear them. Perhaps your ferrets sleep because they are in a cage, not because you aren't there... ----- Nancy Stephens [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 2401]