Shelter Dogs Around the World Are Ending Up in Laboratories

Our latest investigation has found evidence of every dog lover’s worst nightmare. Lost, stray and abandoned dogs who’ve ended up in government-run shelters in Brazil are being handed over to universities for use in experiments. And many of these poor animals are also being supplied to veterinary schools for student-teaching classes.

Sadly, we know it isn’t just happening in Brazil. Our researchers have found evidence that stray and shelter dogs, or those labelled as ‘random source’, can still be used in experiments in the USA, Canada and Australia. We’ve heard shocking accounts that around the world, stray dogs are being deliberately harmed or killed for education purposes, including for students to develop and practice their surgical skills at human and veterinary medical schools. In some parts of the USA and Canada, local laws actually allow laboratories to buy unclaimed dogs from animal shelters for use in painful experiments.

Treating dogs as disposable commodities and viewing them simply as teaching tools - with no regard for their lives - is morally wrong. But we believe it’s also scientifically and educationally unnecessary. There are many viable alternatives to using dogs in teaching, and many schools around the world are successfully using a combination of simulations, models and actual animal patients instead.

The European Union has all but banned the use of stray dogs in experiments, and our work has helped to ensure this cruel practice is a thing of the past in many countries. Together, we can persuade other governments to follow their lead.

Adapted from an article on Cruelty Free International website