Are Dogs Used For Medical Research?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

This is probably a very naive question.  I volunteer at the hospital on Tuesdays, and on my way in this morning I was behind a panel truck with a picture of a dog and cat on the side and it said Pet Crematory.  This kind of made me sad, but then I noticed that the truck turned into the building with is a large medical research facility associated with the hospital.  I followed it, and it went into the back loading dock area.  The driver got out and went inside, and I left.  It really started me wondering if dogs and/or cats are being used for the medical research that goes on here.  It gave me a really sick feeling.  Is this something that happens regularly or (hopefully) it was a coincidence and the truck was there for something else.  I couldn't find anything online about this as it pertains to our area hospital.  It has been bothering me all afternoon.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I actually posted a discussion about this in the doodle debate group... if anyone actually wants to join in on this debate.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/doodledebateclub/forum/topics/med...

 

And to answer your question, yes, they are used in medical research. I'm going to go do some more research, but here is one link I found with some information ...

http://www.aavs.org/researchDogsBonds.html

 

 

 

 

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

????  WTD????  I work at a University with a Medical Research Center and let me tell you, the publicity they would get from testing on dogs and/or cats would absolutely obliterate them.

[Anna and Achilles]

As a child I had an ongoing nightmare that my childhood dog who we had put to sleep was being used for medical research. I don't know why I had those dreams. I hope not. Weird!

[Camilla and Darwin]

"Dogs are widely used in biomedical research, testing, and education — particularly beagles, because they are gentle and easy to handle. They are commonly used as models for human diseases in cardiology, endocrinology, and bone and joint studies, research that tends to be highly invasive, according to the Humane Society of the United States.^[63] The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Welfare Report for 2005 shows that 66,000 dogs were used in USDA-registered facilities in that year.^[48] In the U.S., some of the dogs are purpose-bred, while most are supplied by so-called Class B dealers licensed by the U'SDA to buy animals from auctions, shelters, newspaper ads, and who are sometimes accused of stealing pets.^[64]"

I got that off of wikipedia... 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_testing

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Jane I can't say if your local hospital research facility is using dogs and cats for research but YES they are used for research. This is why you never want to give your dog away for FREE!!  My understanding is that brokers pick up free dogs and sell them to research facilities. Is this right Camilla??

I have to admit I get a bit overwhelmed with the entire subject. Dogs, cats, rabbits and so on. At what point does an animal become small enough that it is okay to torture it in the name of science? It is a hot topic.

I saw a story on tv about a dog rescue organization that actually takes the dogs who have been "retired" from research facilities and rehabillitates them and find them homes. Of course not all dogs survive the research.  It was very sad.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I haven't confirmed but I have read in numerous places that local ads, shelters, and puppy mills are all places that these facilities get their "test subjects". So yes, I do think it's possible that they are hiring brokers to do that.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

OMD, now I'm really feeling sick.  How could I not know this.  I always assumed it was mice and rats and other animals with lower levels of functioning.  The fact that dogs (and cats) like ours are forced to go through this in the name of science....it just feels wrong.  I know there are medical breakthroughs that are saving lives happening every day, and I would hate to see medical research regress.  I just wonder about the ethics of using dogs who have been domesticated and are highly evolved.  I'm going to the debate discussion.  Maybe that will help me "get a grip".

[Lynn D.]

Yes, probably more than you want to know.

 

Have you ever heard the phrase, "The rabbit died."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_test

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, they are used for product testing and for medical research. To undersacore Ricki's comment about giving your pets away "free to good home", there are people called "batchers", Class B animal dealers, who search Craig's List and other sources for "free to good homes" pets, and then sell them for medical testing.

Rumor has it that some shelters also give their unadoptable animals to research labs; but of course, I have no verification of that.

[Frances Pendrous (Horan)]

OM Gosh..how I hate and loathe this subject but yes, it is the elephant in the room. I am from England and to be honest, there are much stricter regulations regarding the use of larger animals such as dogs and cant for vivisection or research. I used to belong to an anti-vivisection group and we were pretty radical and did some dangerous stuff to free these tragic animals, but that was many years ago and I was much younger. Now days, my main objective is to educate people on what is going on behind closed doors. It is a huge money earner for many and it would take a million lifetimes to change it. I do know that they actually love to experiment on animals that have previously been someone's pets as they are usually hand-tamed unlike animals that are just bred to experiment on. This entire subject makes me sick to my stomach, so much so that I for nearly 40 years I have not eaten anything that had a "mother" :) Tofu burgers are really good when you know how to make them :) Also, if you check on all your beauty products or cleaning products, it will usually say on the label if the product has been tested on animals or not. I make sure everything I purchase has such a label including bath soaps and make up. When I was in nursing school, I refused to experiment on a life rat and a life toad and ended up bringing them both home and had them both as pets for the next five years. I passed the class with an A by doing research in the library...and ended up becoming a nurse without any guilt. Our job is to educate the next generation on what is happening to our silent friends in the name of science and see if things can be changed.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thank you everyone.  I'm feeling ridiculously ignorant right now.  Where have I been.....shame on me.  This dilemma will surely keep me up tonight.

[cheryl & oliver]

I think I am going to be sick, I too thought that those days were over, how naive am I....so bad, just awful...