Yes, there were ferrets used to find the shedding periods for rabies which allowed the Compendium of Animal Rabies Control to be changed in favor of not killing ferrets for brain-testing after bites, nips, or allegations of such things. (There was at least one case in which a ferret person said that her ex-boyfriend had reported a bite when none happened to kill her ferrets in revenge for her dropping him.) The upshot was that the deaths of those ferrets used in the shedding studies saved more than their number within only months. Think how many it has saved since. Some states went to not killing right after the vote by the National Association of State Public Health Vets in early November of 1997 (almost 3 years ago), others after it became formal at the start of 1998, some not until later that year after many follow-ups. There still are some in which there is a great deal of local control on this issue and in those states ignorant local officials still at times kill vaccinated ferrets, so it pays to stay on one's toes even with all this progress in saving ferrets. It's like that recent letter from N.H. in which a vet didn't know about IMRAB 3. Emergency rooms are another place where there still is too often lack of knowledge about the Compendium of Animal Rabies Control. You can educate, too, by making copies of the Compendium from the AVMA site (It's in three parts in the professional resources section,or by copying it from the first annual edition of JAVMA any year. Some things just have to happen locally, which makes every FML member important in saving lives. Anyway, those lives lost resulted in saving more than their number very rapidly and continue to save. Do know that some people always will feel strongly about not giving to research which kills to save even more, but with ADV there is not that excuse to not donate (from the info Judy has shared in the past) since monies can be sent to the current research done on samples donated by already sick pet ferrets by sending check to the GA address: M.A. Stevenson, DVM, PhD, DACVS 209A Vet Med Building Dept. of Small Animal Medicine UGA College of Veterinary Medicine Athens, GA 30602-7390 Maybe you won't want to give to a later complimentary project, but you have options: give more now, or find another ferret health project or charity in the future to which you can give if you have such limits on donations. Hey, the ferret you save may be your own. As Dr. Stevenson herself pointed out in her letter which Judy made available: "Any parties interested in donating to these efforts are welcome to send checks to The University Foundation ear-marked for the Ferret ADV Research Group and for research NOT involving EXPERIMENTALLY infected ferrets" and "We are also very supportive of the AFA ADV fund as the projects that fund will ultimately finance are projects that will benefit ferrets. We encourage ferret enthusiasts to be generous in giving to the ADV effort with which they feel most comfortable. We are all striving for the same goals.". There are always ways to help save ferrets. So why not help a few whenever you get a chance? [Posted in FML issue 3194]