K9 Perspective

The magazine your dog would want you to read

Editorial September-October 2009:

No need for laboratory dogs

RECENTLY on the television news (UK) I viewed an interview with people from both sides of the anti-vivisection argument and have to say that I was not surprised to hear that the main culprit in the whole story is the way-behind-the-times government.

We all know that testing on animals is now not necessary; that machines that duplicate the human system and its reaction to chemicals and medications are a whole lot more efficient at testing the human reaction to new drugs than testing it on animals of a different species. And we have to ask the question “why is it that laboratories and scientists still test on animals?”

The answer of course is that they have to test on animals because the law requires that they do so before a license can be granted to produce the medication. I doubt that anyone has tried as yet to alter that law and even if they did, it would take a lot of work to convince a parliament full of relicts from the business world without any knowledge of the subject to change such a law.

Just a few years ago six young men opted to be the first to try a new medication – one that had been tried out on monkeys at hundreds of times the required dose and there were no problems, but there were serious problems for all of the young men who either died or were left with huge kidney and liver problems. Even this was not considered enough to push the archaic law into the 21st Century.

It is also significant that during the interview one guest was asked what she thought about live animals being used in such a manner and then killed and cut up. Her reply was that as only mice were used she felt it was okay because if she got a mouse in the house she would set a trap or call an exterminator. She added that if it was a cat or dog she would feel different.

The pro-vivisection lobby was at that moment significantly silent. Although only mice were shown on television, most people know that monkeys, dogs and cats are all used in the same way. Knowing that, and knowing also that it is to no purpose other than to comply with an archaic law, does give one a rather low opinion of what passes for the more intelligent section of humanity.

The machine that synthesizes the human system and its reactions has been with us for many years – we had an article about it in this magazine in about 2002 – 2003, so really there is absolutely no excuse for anyone to drag their heels any longer. Dogs that have the misfortune to end up in one of these less up-to-date laboratories have no better future than if they were living on a Chinese meat farm – temporary, painful and ultimately terminal. They deserve better. - Liz