On Tue, 13 Mar 2001 16:29:29 -0800, ABCgerbils wrote:
(message-ID<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> )
>I just placed my last pair of pups tonight. This
>person told me what I've already noticed -- you cannot
>get gerbils in any of our local pet stores.
>
>He said the reason is because of a recent discovery
>that gerbils are very close to humans in gastro and
>ulcer medical issues and the gerbil breeders have
>shifted into filling this demand.
>
>Has anyone else heard this?
I cannot immagine this, neither have I heard/read anything about this
medical discovery.
Pet breeders, big or small won't be asked to sell their animals for
research. There are several established gerbil lines for laboratory
research. These are known (inbred) strains, researchers know about the
parentage, genetic make up etc of those strains. Medial research cannot use
just any animal, they need to know where they came from, they only use
established lines.
Our pet gerbils came from this laboratory population (in the 60's), but for
research they are no good any more, they are not carefully bred, they
cannot be compared with each other, doing research on them would not result
in relevant/reliable results.
Karin.
--
===================================================================
Gerbil Information Page
Everything you need to know about gerbils,
also information on exotic gerbil species.
http://www.gerbil-info.nl.com
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ICQ NUMBER (UIN) 1987257
>>>>> Karin van Veen <<<<<
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