Petco began supplying some regions of its stores with Canadian Ferret
ferrets but not all.

Both MF and Triple F are among the ferret farms that also also supply
the laboratory industry in the most recent laboratory supply-source
list I have encountered on-line. There are also some farms that most
ferret people don't even realize exist which exist ONLY to supply the
laboratory industry.

Ferrets are increasing in use in the laboratory setting, largely -- but
not only -- because they are the best choice for studying certain lung
illnesses.

You can learn a lot more about that in the proposal at this link which
also goes into the types of studies for which ferrets are currently
used and gives an idea of the volume -- I can't recall off-hand if the
idea of the volume is actually stated or implied but just put in some
eye meds so can't skim right now.

<http://www.genome.gov/Pages/Research/Sequencing/SeqProposals/FerretSeq.pdf>

The full proposal minus the 53 letter attachments is at that site.

It is legal to share abstracts, press releases, and limited small
quotes without copyright violations if source is credited, so:

>Genomic and EST Sequencing of the Ferret
>(Mustela putorius furo)
>
>Ralph Baric a, John Engelhardt b, Richard Gibbs c, Yoshi Kawaoka d,
>Mriganka Sur e, George Weinstock c, Kara Jensen f, Bryan Paeper f,
>Robert Palermo f, Michael Katze f
>
>a Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North
>Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; b Department of Anatomy
>and Cell Biology, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City,
>IA, USA; c Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine,
>Houston, TX, USA; d Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University
>of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA; eDepartment of Brain and Cognitive
>Sciences, Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts
>Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; fDepartment of
>Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

>Abstract:
>The six areas of biomedical research that most commonly use ferrets
>(cystic fibrosis, influenza and other respiratory diseases, lung
>cancer, reproductive and fetal biology, neuroscience, and specific
>forms of cancer) are collectively responsible for over 12 billion
>dollars of funding from the National Institutes of Health alone for
>2006. This total represents about 44% of the NIH annual grant monies.
>Additionally, ferrets have the potential of becoming an important
>system for drug and vaccine development, including validation and
>toxicity studies. The lack of genomic sequence hampers the
>interpretation of the results from existing research programs as well
>as the development of novel programs that rely on this kind of
>information. Combined sequencing of ferret genomic DNA and ESTs will
>allow for the development of additional resources for genomic and
>proteomic research and provide the genetic information necessary to
>improve the interpretation of results and quality of reagents for
>future research efforts within this model. There is strong support
>from the research community for this proposal, as evidenced by the
>accompanying 53 letters of endorsement from leading investigators
>in both academic and industrial institutions. These emphasize that
>ongoing research with ferret biomedical models is significantly
>limited by the lack of sequence data and derived molecular tools. In
>particular, ferret sequence data is urgently needed for models of
>infectious respiratory diseases with pandemic potential, e.g. avian
>influenza and SARS corona virus. National interest in these models
>is evidenced by recent Congressional funding for pandemic flu
>preparedness (June 2006) and the Biodefense Advanced Research and
>Development Authority (Dec.2006).

Two very short non-abstract quotes:

>Ferrets have a long history as animal model subjects. In 1933,
>influenza-induced rhinitis was first observed in ferrets. Because
>this model mimics the shedding of viruses from respiratory tissue in
>a fashion similar to humans, their importance as an animal model was
>immediately apparent1.
> ...
>Most closely related to the European polecat, the domestic ferret
>(Mustela putorius furo) deviated from the polecat at least 2,500
>years ago.

Genetics info is good to have but I'd much rather that part of a team
going after it was not for breeding results like genetic knock-out
ferrets. I personally consider creating genetic knock-out animals to be
cruel even though I know that provides info which can sometimes be
gotten no other way.

I know that there are some types of research where the setting is
excellent for the animals and they are very well cared for because I
worked with primates in just such a university setting years ago -- so,
yes, they do exist and the animals do thrive in them, but i also know
that there are forms of research which I wish were never done and
recall an ex-boyfriend who was on a professorial committee which was
deciding whether to hire a new professor voting to not hire him because
the type of research he had done fit in that category. (Enough of the
other profs felt the same way and the man was not hired.) Plus, I know
what happened -- in violation of the contract another professor had
arranged to save the individual -- to an ape I worked very closely
with when he had to go to a different location. (And, yes, that was
reported, but no one knew it had happened till after the fact, and i
still cry for him at times like now.) Within a university setting
conditions also largely depend on the overseeing university
veterinarian because some research veterinarians place animal health
first in how researchers are permitted to treat animals, but others
place avoidance of injuries to humans first. Luckily, the one the
university I was with way back then placed animal health first because
large primates are very dangerous so some research vets decree horrid
conditions for them to prevent injury. I prefer that I am scarred all
over my hands and arms, and that I had a concussion and a broken hand
because the animals we worked with thrived and were happy. In private
labs the conditions are sadly often less reportable.

***Yes, if MF got out of the pet business I suspect it would easily
find enough business solely in the laboratory sector. The demand is
increasing. It also supports Triple F for some of their ferrets. Plus,
there are entire OTHER ferret farms/animal farms that ONLY supply the
research labs rather than allowing any animals to go into the pet
stream.***

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

[Posted in FML 6404]