I think this whole thread has long outlived its
usefulness and now gets into other areas.

It's a bug--capture it and release it or step on it
and be done.

It's a mouse--it's neither Minnie nor Mickey, and it
most probably isn't the home-grown pet variety.  It
can carry pestilence and disease and do significant
damage to the very artifacts you've been entrusted to
care for. It can invite other varmints into your
museum who see it and think "dinner."

It's a snake--remember what the snake did in the
Garden of Eden and be wary.  If you want to be humane,
think of the poor beleagured visitor who stumbles
across it or has it crawl over their child when
they've come to visit and do what you can to get rid
of it.  Capture it and let it go, or if it's
poisonous, off with its head.  Remember, it could have
grown up to be a pair of shoes or a purse.

It's a cat--now I love my Purr-Purr (the grandkids
named him), and the thought of anything happening to
him disturbs me.  But many (including some in my
extended family) cannot tolerate the dander.  Cats are
terrific to play with but can wreak tremendous damage.
 Males spray even if neutered.  They try to and
sometimes succeed, and cat urine is quite ugly.  They
claw things and attack the feet of others which could
cause real problems.  Have a diabetic come visit who
is attacked by your cat--even out of mischief--and try
a wound that doesn't heal.  Imagine the liabilities.

It's a human being--forget it.  You cannot do a damned
thing with them!  They may be sentient beings, but
they're frequently insensitive and fail to recognize
that not everyone has the same "moral" beliefs.  Back
in the days of the snake and the apple, they had the
option to make choices, and they may not concur as to
what those choices should be.  Don't presuppose the
collective agrees as to what is right or wrong.  If
they did, the world wouldn't be in this ungainly mess,
and we wouldn't have museums (ergo jobs for many) in
places where warmongering transpired to remember our
inability to be moral and all the folly that followed.

Just step on the damned bug and let's get this thread
behind us!



--- Nicholas Burlakoff <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Henry Crawford wrote:
>
> "Being practical is more important than being humane
> toward mice. " This is
> a very broad statement that is not supported by any
> major religious
> tradition or ethical system. Humanness towards
> sentient beings is the
> cornerstone of most religions and adherence to these
> principles are seen by
> many people as both morally necessary and also
> practical. The call towards
> "practicality" in itself is a false issue, since
> what that term usually
> means is responding to short-term perceived needs
> juxtaposed with more
> complex principles that impact people, and the
> world, in longer terms. The
> type of thinking suggested here is a call to
> laziness.
>
> "You have much higher issues to think about than the
> lives of a few mice."
> What higher issue can there be in a normal museum
> context than to act in its
> own interests in a thoughtful, moral and humane
> manner?
>
> "Get them declawed if you wish to save your precious
> Late Victorian
> horsehair setee [sic]." While I have known a few
> cats that were decent
> mousers after being declawed, this is rather
> unusual. To declaw a cat means
> that it becomes virtually defenseless in a setting
> where it may face
> enemies. Only cats that are guaranteed a protected
> apartment existence for
> all their natural lives should be considered as
> candidates for this
> procedure. To me, this sentence in another indicator
> of lazy thinking-not a
> good thing in a museum professional.
>
> "Forget humane and protect the house, its contents,
> and the health and
> well-being of your staff, volunteers, board, and
> visitors.  Get real."
> Another false dichotomy is being created here. The
> protection of a museum,
> its staff and everyone involved is a very high
> priority but that priority
> does not contradict the need for humane action in a
> Pest Management Plan.
> Pests may have to be killed, but then that act needs
> to be as humane as
> possible. Many Americans oppose the death penalty,
> but event he most
> strident anti-capital punishment protestor would
> agree that executions by
> lethal injection is more humane than electrocution
> or drawing and
> quartering. There needs to be no contradiction
> between effective pest
> management and humane actions.
>
> The reason that established museums have Pest
> Management Plans or programs
> is precisely because these institutions attempt to
> meet their own needs in a
> thoughtful, humane and practical manner. The call to
> unthinking slaughter of
> the writer of the quoted sentences is highly
> disturbing, and is in
> contradiction to most museum practices that I am
> aware of.
> nburlakoff
>


=====
Indigo Nights
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