>In more way then one ..
>I bought this book about ferrets.  "Second Edition Biology & Diseases
>of the Ferret."  In there it shows a picture of Mr. Gilman Marshall
>
>text underneath
>"Mr Gilman, a pioneer in the commerical rearing of ferrets for use
>in biomedical research."
>
>Somewhere else in the book it said ''Marshall farms' I am 99% sure
>but can't find it, so I'm pretty sure it's our Marshall farms.
 
Yes, that's "our" Mr. Marshall.  Marshall Farms started out breeding
ferrets for research, *long* before they became popular as pets.  MF's
pet business came much later.
 
In fact, Dr. Fox himself knows so much about ferrets because he studies
them as human analogs - not because he started out interested in the
ferret itself.  In other words, his research with ferrets is intended to
model how diseases (and medications) affect humans.  Ferrets simply make
good testing subjects since we can't experiment on humans.
 
I simply cannot get upset about biomedical research on animals.  There
are some instances of needless cruelty, yes, but without the majority
of that research we would not have nearly the medical knowledge we have,
nor the medications we have to fight disease with - for us or our animal
companions.  Sure it's a shame when an animal is deliberately infected
with a fatal disease, but the end goal is to develop a way to save many
more lives that the disease might unintentionally take.
 
roger & the wolverine wannabees
missing bear
[Posted in FML issue 4050]