Concerns over therapy ferrets used to kill rats at UK’s largest children’s prison

Prison officers’ union calls for immediate end to practice at HMYOI Wetherby over fears for child and animal welfare

homes 9 points a day ago

I’m not against the idea of therapy ferrets as, they are extremely snuggly and friendly animals.

The problem is that they’re very high maintenance and not incredibly sanitary pets. The problem is that the types of people who are in need of therapy. Animals are not always in the position to be able to responsibly care for a ferret, especially in the long-term.

In this type of situation, a cat is usually a better option. They’re more independent, far more sanitary, and tend to live almost twice as long.

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HugeNerd 7 points 18 hours ago

The problem is that they’re very high maintenance and not incredibly sanitary pets.

AKA pets.

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binux 4 points 18 hours ago

Assuming you’re not just trying to be cheeky, I think it’s safe to assume they meant relative to the average pet.

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phutatorius 1 point 13 hours ago

Snakes are low-maintenance and hardly ever shit. OK, they're not cuddly, but you can't have everything.

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innermachine 3 points 18 hours ago

Cats more sanitary than ferrets? That's a likely uneducated take. I have 3 ferrets and they smell less and are cleaner than cats for sure. Most people don't properly care for them and treat them like rodents, their not! My ferrets are litter box trained as well as any cat and clean themselves often, and when fed proper diet they don't stink (#1 ferret food in USA is Marshalls, first ingredient is corn meal which ferrets as obligate carnivores cannot digest). My ferrets smell vaguely of corn chips but the ones at the pet store stink like ass due to poor diet and improper husbandry!! But u are right about one thing- they are a lot more care intensive than cats! But boy do cats stink worse than ferrets! Ferrets also won't give u toxoplasmosis, as likely 30+% of cat owners have contracted. So if anything cats are the more unsanitary dirty option.

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Jessicat 3 points 15 hours ago

I’ve had both cats and ferrets and find them comparable generally with ferrets needing slightly less maintenance. I agree that with proper care they don’t smell. What aspect of caring for a ferret is much more intensive than caring for a cat?

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Doom -2 points 14 hours ago

Ah yes. The well known sanitary house cat. None of us have ever had our beloved pet pee in a toaster or our shoes or our beds and they certainly weren't doing so out of spite. We all know cats are level headed rational beings. Well tempered. Tolerant of affection. Perfect for therapy purposes.

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Taleya 5 points 13 hours ago

I've grown up with cats, and had a full blown litter + mama totalling 7 at one point. Currently have three.

None of them across 40 years ever pissed in vengance. Had a couple of slow shutters dropping turds, had some battle buttsprays, dealt with UTIs, CKD and diabetes and never had a single one piss anywhere but the litter box.

I do not think the cat was the problem in your experience

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