National Academies Press: OpenBook

Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1988)

Chapter: 6. Use of Pound Animals

« Previous: 5. Regulatory Issues
Suggested Citation:"6. Use of Pound Animals." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 1988. Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1098.
×
Page 64
Suggested Citation:"6. Use of Pound Animals." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 1988. Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1098.
×
Page 65
Suggested Citation:"6. Use of Pound Animals." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 1988. Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1098.
×
Page 66
Suggested Citation:"6. Use of Pound Animals." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 1988. Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1098.
×
Page 67

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

6 Use of Pound Animals Much of the controversy surrounding animal experunentation is related to the use of anunals from pounds. This subject has become a major political issue ~ recent years. SUPPLY OF POUND ANIMALS A pound Is a facility established by local ordinance in which stray, abandoned, lost, or donated animals are held Impounded for some period, so that owners can claim lost pets or new homes can be found for the animate. A shelter is a privately established facility for such animus. In pounds and most shelters, over 90 percent of the unclaimed animals must eventually be kiDed. In the United States, more than 10 minion dogs and cats from pounds and shelters are killed each year. The annual cost of control of stray flogs and cats in the United States is over $500 million, which includes the costs of euthanasia and disposal of these 10 milBion animals. Approximately 138,000 dogs and 5(),000 cats are obtained from pounds and shelters each year for use in research and testing (Foundation for Biomedical Research, 1987), and most of these are used in acute, nonsurvival research under full anesthesia. Dogs and cats obtained Tom pounds and shelters are described as random-source animals the term used for any animal not bred specifically for research. Random-source animate are obtained from 64

USE OF POUND ANIMALS 65 pounds and shelters or from USDA-licensed dealers that obtain them from pounds, shelters, farms, ~d other such sources. In 1983, am prox~nately IS2,000 dogs were used in research ~d testing in the United States, including pound and other random-source anunab, wed as those bred specifically for research use (Office of Technology Assessment, 1986~. REGUIATIONt3 Forty-nine states permit the use of some pound animals in re- search. Eleven states do not allow pounds withm their jurisdiction to make ants avmIable to research facilities, but peanut animals from ou~of-state pounds to be purchased through USDA-licensed dealers. Tm Massachusetts, ~l use of pound anneals ~ prohibited. SCIENTIFIC CONSIDE}lATIONS Pound animate have varied medical histories and are seen as having varied genetic backgrounds. In many experunents, the in- vestigator may determine that this variability poses no problems or may even be of value in the experunent in that these annnab pro- vide greater diversity of genetic background and hence mimic the human situation. In other experunents it ~ necessary to know ge- netic compositions and the use of purebred animal ~ necessary. In other cases the unknown health status, physiological condition (e.g., whether they are spayed or pregnant), and age of the pound animal may introduce a chance of biological and experimental variability that could interfere not only with the results obtained but also with interpretation of the data. NTH policy is that decisions as to the kinds and sources of animals appropriate for research be made by individual scientists and msti- tutions (National Institutes of Health, 1987~. For scientists whose research is already bred on raDdom-source animally, continued ac- cess to such arsenals allows them to build on extant data. It should be noted that some commercial dealers also provide randomly bred animals, but at a greater cost than that of animals from pounds. BENEFITS Dogs and cats obtained from pounds and shelters are used and have been used in research on a wide variety of diseases, ~nclud~g di- abetes, cancer, arthritis, and cardiovascular ailments. For example,

66 USE OF LABORATORY ANIMALS pound dogs were used in the development of the counter-shock treat- ment for restarting the human heart in patients whose hearts stop beating as ~ result of electric shock, heart attacks, or other causes. These anunab were used to determine the most elective means for restoring the heartbeat. In addition, most current surgical methods for treating heart and kidney dmease have been developed through research on dogs. Cats have been extensively used ~ research on the nervous system. Cats have also been used in research on visual and auditory function and may be used as a mode] for AIDS research, as mentioned in Chapter 3. COST CONSIDERATIONS Scientists seek every legitimate way to keep their costs as low as possible. They are concerned that the progress of research might be impeded if relatively inexpensive pound animals are not available. If the approximately 13B,000 pound dogs used each year for scientific research were not available, there would be a need to breed and rape additional dogs to replace them. These animals would cost researchers a substantial additional amount of money every year at current leveb of use. CONCERNS FOR TlIE ANIMALS Obtaining an~rnals from commercial breeders rather than pounds not only increases expenditures but also increases the total number of animal liver lost each ye=. Over 10 million animals already die in pounds and shelters each year, and additional animals bred for research add to the total lom of animad life. Some people contend that pound dogs and cats should be viewed differently from those bred specially for research purposes. Pound animals are not adjusted to the confinement of the laboratory, they assert, and may experience more stress because of the change from having been pets In homes (although many animals taken to pounds are unwanted or unsuitable as household pets). Animab that had been bred for research, having never experienced the social inter- action and freedom of movement of a home environment, could be considered to be affected less by their absence. However, some breed- ers of dogs and cats for research include socialization and walks as part of their policy, so these distinctions are not always so clear-cut. To avoid the concern about long-term experiments using pound animals, some individuals and humane organizations would restrict

USE OF POUND ANlADlLS 67 the research use of pound dogs and cats that are already scheduled for euthanasia to acute nonsurvival experiments under full anesthesia. In acute nonsurvival experiments, animate do not regain consciousness after the experunent. In chronic experiment, anunab do regain consciousness. Indeed, in such experiments, not only their survival but their Fill recovery knight be an essential part of the experiment.

Next: 7. Conclusions and Recommendations »
Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $45.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Scientific experiments using animals have contributed significantly to the improvement of human health. Animal experiments were crucial to the conquest of polio, for example, and they will undoubtedly be one of the keystones in AIDS research. However, some persons believe that the cost to the animals is often high. Authored by a committee of experts from various fields, this book discusses the benefits that have resulted from animal research, the scope of animal research today, the concerns of advocates of animal welfare, and the prospects for finding alternatives to animal use. The authors conclude with specific recommendations for more consistent government action.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!