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Invasive and ultimately fatal experiments performed on dogs as part of a Veterans Administration (VA) medical research program, continues to move ahead, despite criticism from Congress and veteran groups, according to documents first obtained by USA Today.
The experiments being done by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are seeking to develop solutions to treating spinal cord injuries/issues and breathing problems in humans, as researchers use dogs as their mammalian subjects in conducting the studies.
USA Today spoke to a spokesperson from the VA, Curt Cashour, who told the news agency that the organization’s researchers only use dogs “when no other species would provide meaningful results and the work is ethically sound.”
Researchers in Milwaukee removed sections of the brains of dogs in order to test neurons which control breathing, USA Today reported. The animals are later killed by lethal injection.
Tests undertaken in Cleveland involved placing electrodes on the spinal cords of dogs in order to measure cough reflexes, done before and after severing the animal’s spinal cords.
Experiments on dogs in Richmond, Virginia by the VA, involve the implantation of pacemakers, then researchers induce abnormal heart rhythms on the animals as they run on treadmills to test their cardiac function. Afterward, the dogs are euthanized by injection or through draining their blood, USA Today said.
The agency says that tests with dogs are not the norm. The VA says these types of experiments are only conducted when there are no other suitable alternatives and that over 99 percent of the studies done by the agency involve rats or mice.
A bill cosponsored by Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) along with cosponsor Rep. Dave Brat (R-Virginia) is seeking to stop the experiments.
“Why there’s this commitment to it, I don’t know because it doesn’t yield any results,” Titus said. “It’s not economically sound, they could be looking at new technologies, and morally people just don’t support testing on puppies.”
