Question

Your university includes a college of veterinary medicine. In the past, the students practiced surgical techniques on dogs acquired from a local animal shelter. There have been some objections to this practice and the veterinary school wants the approval of your committee to continue this practice. They make the following points:________.

1. Almost all of the animals will eventually be killed at the animal shelter. It is wasteful of life to breed animals for the vet school when there is an ample supply of animals that will be euthanized anyway.
2. It costs at least 10 times as much to breed animals for research purposes.
3. Research with dogs from animal shelters and the practice surgeries will, in the long run, aid the lives of animals by training veterinarians. A local group of animal welfare activists demanded that you deny the school's request. They argue that the majority of these animals are lost or stolen pets and it is tragic to think that previously loved dogs could end up on a surgical table for an experiment. Furthermore, they claim that as people become aware that animals taken to shelters may end up in research laboratories, they will stop using the shelters and simply set these animals free.

Answer 1

The use of animals in research and medical diagnostics is heavily debated and strictly regulated to ensure ethical treatment. Arguments for and against the use of shelter dogs in veterinary practice highlight the ethical dilemmas, such as consent and public perception, while emphasizing the need to explore alternative methods. Regulations like the AWA and the IACUC oversight seek to balance scientific needs with animal welfare concerns.

Step-by-step explanation:

The debate surrounding the use of animals in research and medical diagnostics is a complex ethical issue involving a consideration of the humane treatment of animals, the necessity of using animals to advance medical knowledge, and the implications for both human and veterinary medicine.

Animal research is regulated by measures such as the Animal Welfare Act and the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, which establish standards for the humane treatment, housing, and use of animals in experiments. Institutions are required to have an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to review and oversee experimentation practices, ensuring that animal suffering is minimized and alternatives to animal use are considered.

While the use of shelter dogs for veterinary surgical practice raises concerns about the welfare of these animals, proponents argue that it is a means to maximize the use of animals that would otherwise be euthanized, ultimately benefiting animal and human health through improved veterinary training.

Opponents raise ethical questions about consent, the potentially traumatic fate of lost or stolen pets, and the detriment to public use of shelters if such practices are widely known. In addressing these concerns, there is significant discussion on the adoption of alternative methods such as computer modeling, virtual trials, and in vitro techniques, reducing reliance on animal subjects.

Answer 2

I would deny this study. This study is unethical as the veterinary medicine program wants to practice surgical technique on dogs from a local shelter, this not only would hurt the dog physically but it would also affect them mentally as they were moved from different places and then injured by students. By doing this study you’d be hurting dogs who have a good chance of being adopted meaning you are breaking one of the four principles of ethics, Harm.

Step-by-step explanation:

After looking at examples and reading the case you should have been able to deduce that this would harm the dogs not only mentally but physically. I hope this helps.