MY DOG, MY DOG, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

I was asked to lead this week's small group discussion. One just has to look to the news to find a relevant topic that could be explored. Unfortunately, this week's news focused mainly on the Virginia Tech shooting (is the real tragedy that 30+ died or that this happens so often in American schools that they can label this "the worst"?) Rather than depressing the group, I digg.com'd the following topic:

ANIMAL RESEARCH

Warm Up

1. Describe your fondest memory in interacting with an animal. It could be a pet, a farm animal, a hunting experience, the zoo.
2. Raise your hand and keep it raised if you have consumed the following in the past month: Arm & Hammer baking soda, Bic pen, Herbal Essence or Pantene shampoo, Palmolive dish soap, Purex laundry detergent, Right Guard or Speed Stick deodorant, Aveeno or Lubriderm hand cream, Oil of Olay skin cream, Glade air fresheners, Playtex feminine products.

Animal testing (animal research) refers to the use of animals in experiments. It is estimated that 50 to 100 million animals worldwide (from fruit flies and mice to non-human primates) are used annually and may either be killed during the experiments or subsequently euthanized. The research is carried out inside universities, medical schools, pharmaceutical companies, farms, defense-research establishments, and commercial facilities that provide animal-testing services to industry. Most laboratory animals are bred for research purposes, while a smaller number are caught in the wild or supplied by pounds.

Some highlights of animal research outcomes: development of penicillin (mice), insulin (dogs), organ transplant (dogs), and development of the polio vaccine (mice, monkeys).

History

• First recorded references: 3^rd century B.C. Greece (Aristotle)
• 1880’s: Louis Pasteur demonstrated the germ theory of medicine by giving anthrax to sheep
• 1890’s: Ivan Pavlov used dogs to demonstrate classical conditioning
• 1957: Laika (dog) became the first of many animals to orbit the earth, paving the way for human space flight
• 1996: Dolly (sheep) became the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell

Types of Research

Pure Research: increase knowledge about the way organisms behave, develop, and function biologically; most research animals fall into this category.

Applied Research: solve specific and practical problems, often relating to the cure of a disease and disorder; typically driven by pharmaceuticals.

Alternatives

Reduction: obtain comparable levels of information from fewer animals, or to obtain more information from the same number of animals.

Replacement: use of non-animal methods over animal methods whenever possible to achieve the same scientific aim.

Refinement alleviate/minimize potential pain, suffering or distress, and enhance animal welfare for the animals still used.

The Views

Testing advocates argue that:

• Unethical to test substances/drugs with potentially adverse side-effects on human beings.
• Complex animals are good test subjects because of their similarities to humans.
• There is no substitute for psychiatric studies (e.g., antidepressant clinical trials) that require behavioral data.
• There is no substitute for studies of the infection of a host
• Animals have shorter life and reproductive spans; several generations can be studied in a relatively short time.
• Animals bred especially for animal-testing purposes arrive at the laboratory free from disease.
• Humans that use medicine derived from animal research are healthier (many examples of substances causing death or injury to human beings because of inadequate animal testing)
• Over 10 times more animals are used by humans for other purposes (agriculture, hunting, pest control) than are used in animal testing. 100 million animals are killed by hunting each year. 150 million large mammals are used in agriculture each year. Hundreds of millions of rats are involved in pest control. Over seven million dogs and cats are euthanized from animal shelters each year, and a million animals are killed each day by automobiles.

Opponents argue that:

• Animal suffering is excessive in relation to whatever benefits may be reaped. Any benefits to human beings cannot outweigh the suffering of the animals. In practice, it leads to the widespread abuse of animals.
• Animals do not consent to being tested upon.
• Bad science: many animal models of disease are induced and cannot be compared to the human disease.
• Some drugs have dangerous side-effects that were not predicted by animal models
• Some drugs appear to have different effects on human and other species
• The most vocal proponents of animal testing have vested interests in maintaining the practice.

Bible Quotes/Misquotes

Genesis 1:29-31 – God’s vegetarian diet

Genesis 9:1-2 – God’s carnivore diet

Act 9 – Peter’s Vision

Isiah 11:6 – the complete picture

It is very easy to use (partial) scripture to support a position; yet, if one reads the verses before and after, it usually paints a different picture.

Q & Eh?

Is it nutritionally possible to survive without eating meat? Why don’t people choose that type of diet?

Who can stand spiders, mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches? How easy is it for you to kill one (or convince someone to kill one for you)?

Do animals possess souls?

Some interesting discussion came out of this. At times, it veered towards herbivore vs. carnivore diets, to hunting (there were at least 3 in the group who were hunters or whose husbands were hunters), to the idea of stewardship of not only animals but all of Creation, including nature. Some memorable quotes:

"What's the difference between me killing my own meat or going to the supermarket and getting meat that's been killed by someone else?"

"My husband grew up with 3 brothers and they all hunted, but he would cry each time he shot a gopher. His dad spanked him for that."

"All the examples in the second warm up question are from companies that test on animals."

"My dad is not a Christian, but he hunts. It gets him out to exercise, he connects with nature and he has a sense of peace. He will eat what he kills and will also give to those who are down on their luck. He had a deep sense of respect of the animal that he hunts."