Frank Ballast once wrote a novel entitled Searching for Laboratories in the Cosmos, in which an alien race visits Earth to take notes. Notes for an exhibit at a museum on their home planet. The exhibit was entitled “Genetic Engineering On Low to Medium Technology Planets.”
The aliens could walk the halls and see many pictures of a species native to Earth. There were hundreds of photos and essays describing the various mutations. At the beginning was a noble statue of the animal in its natural state. There were two basic varieties. Both virile and magnificent in their own ways.
The aliens would continue and see abominations with excessively short legs, some with flat faces or squat features, others with abnormal heart conditions, all created for the humans’ pleasure and companionship.
Of course, the aliens would scoff at the end of the tour. Above the exit were emblazoned the words which they were told were proverbial on Earth:
“Man’s Best Friend”.
