In reference to James Makowski's statement to "help ban needless
     research on ferrets":
 
     Jim,
 
        I think you need to clarify "needless".  Before I purchased my
     ferrets, I did some info gathering to determine if these pets were
     right for me.  In the process, I turned to members of the American
     Ferret Association (AFA), more specifically Terry Fike and Sally
     Heber, and gained a lot of insight in to what kind of pet a ferret is
     and what would be expected of me to maintain this type of animal.
 
        Along the way I was told how Path Valley breeds ferrets as pets and
     Marshall Farms breeds them primarily for research purposes.  Now I
     hope I do not re-state this incorrectly, but ferrets are promarily
     used for the research to combat cancer.  I believe I was told that
     ferrets are similar to humans in the way that they carry some forms of
     cancer and how their bodies will handle the experimental attempts to
     cure them (perhaps Dr. Williams can jump in and clear this up a bit).
 
        Now, on a personal note, I have had more relatives and
     acquaintances pass from cancer than from heart-attacks, old-age,
     car-accidents and any other seemingly common way to die these days.  I
     do not call research to cure cancer "needless" and the AFA supports
     this type of research.  That is not to say that all of its members
     support the research, but the AFA does.
 
                                        Alan Braunstein
                                   [log in to unmask]
 
     "The above statements are mine alone and may not necessariyl reflect
     the views or opinions of others.  I welcome any corrections or
     clarifications to any statements I have made."
[Posted in FML issue 1069]