Should Dogs Be Used In Biomedical Research

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Should cats and dogs be used in biomedical research?

Biomedical research provides valuable knowledge on how humans and animals behave, develop and function biologically. Through careful experimentation by several scientists we discover new therapies and medicines, carefully developed and evaluated, to prevent and treat diseases that cause illness in mammals.
It is estimated 50-100million animals are used in research every year.

Dogs are useful animals as models for better medical treatment of humans. Cancer, bone and lymphoma, in dogs is almost identical to humans, except it develops quicker, enabling us to follow the full course the cancer takes over a shorter period of time.
Dogs that have naturally occurring diseases, for example canine …show more content…

Using cats and dogs we can predict the likely harmful effects of chemicals on human health. Although the usefulness of animal models has to be judged case to case as genetically dogs are only 84% similar to humans and cats 90%. A great deal of animal experimentation has been misleading and resulted in either withholding of drugs which subsequently were found to be highly beneficial to humans, or released drugs which were thought to be harmless on animals but caused ill effects in humans. We must consider the negative effects on the animals as well; their wellbeing is at risk and may be effected by conditions during handling, breeding, restraint and housing. This can cause stress, shown in weight loss, behaviour changes, and increased levels of certain hormones. Most organisations purchase dogs from class A breeders, meaning they are under the age of one and have good health and veterinary care allowing for more controlled research. However, some purchase class B dogs, which are dogs from shelters meaning the research maybe compromised because of their poorly defined temperament, unknown age and unverifiable health status, potentially causing harm to dogs that cannot give us reliable results. Some breeders offer devocalisation services so that dogs cannot physically bark, this can cause a greater chance of food and water getting trapped in the lungs and infection; in my opinion this is morally unacceptable as it is causing unnecessary harm to the dog. Positive learning we have gained from research in cats have been the understanding of the nervous system, helping us understand the visual system and the need for light for it to develop. Also, cats naturally infected with feline AIDs (FIV) are used to study the effect of anti-viral treatments and create vaccines for AIDs. Leukaemia caused by a retrovirus for feline leukaemia, shows

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