# Frist adopted cats for medical experiments **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612 "2003-01-04T15:25:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/21 "2003-01-04T17:52:14Z")
It doesn’t matter how many animals are euthanized at the shelter. He made a promised, probably signed a contract, _knowing that he intended to renege on it_. I work at a shelter, and if we found out someone was doing this, we’d sic the sheriff on them for anything we could. Those of us that work at shelters form emotional attachments to the animals we put up for adoption, and those emotional ties mean that what he’s doing is one step removed from kidnapping someone’s companion animal and killing it. We adopt animals out with the explicit understanding that the adopter will provide the animal with a good home. It is despicable to lie to someone about your intentions in this manner. Especially for a politician of a party that holds private property and the right of contract to be sacred. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/22 "2003-01-04T18:05:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*… hooking up its brains to a car battery with a pair of jumper cables, all I can say is “Red is positive, black is negative”. \*\* Line lifted from Dennis Miller, unattributed. Tsk. All of a sudden Dr. Frist. The splendour and the wonder of the man is shouted from the rooftops. Well, there is this one rather unsavory incident. I remain suspicious, but as open-minded as I can for one who is allied to the Forces of Darkness. I have heard rumors to the effect that he is the original source of the Anonymous Amendment to the Homeland Security Bill. The idea of indemnifying any corporation from legal vexations is troubling enough. But that it was done under cover of darkness and the perpetrator didn’t even have the guts to attach his name to it…speaks volumes. If this should prove true, his case would be closed in my book, barring dramatic reformation of character. To hell with the kitty kats. What’s he doing to us? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/23 "2003-01-04T18:07:18Z")
You guys really are grasping at straws, you know that? ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/24 "2003-01-04T18:43:59Z")
[minor nitpick] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > **Line lifted from Dennis Miller, unattributed. Tsk.** Dennis _Leary_ [/minor nitpick] Proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/25 "2003-01-04T18:46:02Z")
Both wrong. That’s from Nick DePaulo. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/26 "2003-01-04T18:48:39Z")
hell, I couldn’t remember _who_ I lifted it from ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/27 "2003-01-04T18:52:26Z")
Or D **i** Paulo, before I get nitpicked back. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/28 "2003-01-04T18:53:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you personally acquainted with any doctors, RTA? Outside of fiction, I mean. Yes and if he was here I am quite certain that he would say, if not “Dude that’s fucked up. No way”, then something very close to it. But I can call him if you want. > [@](#): > > And if he went to a school where they were unable or unwilling to provide animals to practice on, I can see a legitimate need for learning on one’s own. I would hope the med school would have more resources than that. Absolutely - Harvard Med is a notoriously primitive and underfunded shithole, and it’s a wonder anyone wants to go there. /sarcasm ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/29 "2003-01-04T18:54:01Z")
[very, very minor nitpick] _Denis_ Leary.[end] **QtM** Quite all right, I’m sure. I, myself, suffer minor memory lapses due to age and a lifelong program of glaucoma prevention. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/30 "2003-01-04T18:54:40Z")
But what happened to the monkey? Poor monkey . . . ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/31 "2003-01-04T19:00:17Z")
I love how you guys are all broken up about the poor animals and are condemning this man for it, instead of praising him for [praising him for helping these people](http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/02/frist.aid/index.html). I didn’t see anything at all about that here, but I do see condemnation for a man who took animals who were going to die anyway and put them to a good purpose. Let’s just find a reason to bitch, why don’t we. You animal rights people are a pain. NO animals are as valuable as human beings, and if that’s how he got his experience, then great. I’ll find some more cats and send them to him. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/32 "2003-01-04T19:11:45Z")
> [@](#): > > You animal rights people are a pain. NO animals are as valuable as human beings, and if that’s how he got his experience, then great. I’ll find some more cats and send them to him. I think the point has eluded you. It’s not animal experimentation in itself as part of a medical school curriculum, which we all agree is unpleasant but necessary, that is so horrifying, but that Frist a) lied in order to b) obtain kittens to take home and c)torture. Animal experimentation in a lab setting with professorial supervision is one thing, but Frist was engaging in do-it-yourself vivisection for fun and games, which is just evil. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/33 "2003-01-04T19:13:58Z")
Oh Lord. (a) Big. (b) Deal. I agree with Qadop and Airman. If hooking up those kittens’ brains to jumper cables made him all the more capable of selflessly helping the people in that wreck, more power to him. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/34 "2003-01-04T19:19:19Z")
Oh, fuck. The previous post by **Burundi**? 'Twas me. I’m delighted to see what respect Republicans have for contract law. Apparently, as long as you’re violating a contract in order to further your education, it’s okay. So I can write you a bad check, as long as it’s for textbooks? How is that different from signing a form promising not to experiment on cats and then doing so? (Except that when I write the bad check, no animals die.) Grasping at straws indeed. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/35 "2003-01-04T19:22:24Z")
He admitted what he did was wrong and apologized, for what must have been no more than a low-level midemeanor. It’s not like lied under oath or anything. What more do you want? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/36 "2003-01-04T19:23:07Z")
I can’t speak to whether Sen. Frist treated his “extracurricular” animal subjects in a humane fashion (perhaps he bought or “borrowed” a full set of dissection tools and anesthesia/euthanasia equipment as well), but the point remains that no reputable medical school would endorse such activity. That’s not an “animal rights” thing, it’s part of the proper ethical and scientific training as a scientist or physician. He went to Harvard-freaking-Medical School for heaven’s sake, they’re hardly short on educational opportunities and funding. Plenty of other highly skilled physicians got to his level of ability without hitting the pound for practice. It was a very good thing that the Senator did, stopping to help those people. I work with physicians and know that they would do likewise if they were able to and thought they could provide assistance. Sen. Frist got newspaper articles about it because he’s a senator, though. I personally don’t think he should be attacked over this, but he should definitely acknowledge that what he did was not right. It was a severe lapse of judgement on his part. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/37 "2003-01-04T19:24:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DanielWithrow \* > \*\*Oh, fuck. The previous post by **Burundi**? 'Twas me. > > I’m delighted to see what respect Republicans have for contract law. Apparently, as long as you’re violating a contract in order to further your education, it’s okay. > > So I can write you a bad check, as long as it’s for textbooks? How is that different from signing a form promising not to experiment on cats and then doing so? (Except that when I write the bad check, no animals die.) > > Grasping at straws indeed. > Daniel \*\* Lets see a cite for the contract that Frist broke. This was back in the 70’s. For all you know, the shelter had a ‘first come, first serve, all you can eat kitten’ policy. And lets see a cite for the ‘torture’ assertion you make, **Gobear** ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/38 "2003-01-04T19:24:54Z")
Does “probably signed a contract” mean that he did? What you said was just speculation. If not, your accusation is groundless. And your rhetoric is as pointless as it is amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/39 "2003-01-04T19:25:00Z")
:smack: Change the last sentence to “should definitely and **did** acknowledge” - I knew he did but neglected to put that in there. ---
**Author:** ![presidebt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c37758/32.png) [@presidebt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/presidebt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612/40 "2003-01-04T19:28:25Z")
Lying is an impeachable offense for Democrats, a justifiable training activity for Republicans. And some people say there is no difference between parties anymore… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frist-adopted-cats-for-medical-experiments/146612.md?page=3)