You may remember our gruesome finding late last year that researchers were using dogs from a pound in New Zealand for poisoning trials. Since then, NZAVS has started a thorough investigation to find out as much as possible about how dogs are used in experiments in NZ.
We've uncovered many experiments involving dogs, all of which have been conducted right here in beautiful Aotearoa. You can view all of the experiments we found on our new Dogs Case Studies webpage!
One experiment was particularly hard to stomach. Researchers used new-born puppies in an intrusive brain experiment.1
16 Huntaway puppies were used in a cruel experiment from birth. Our welcome to these beautiful intelligent beings was to use them as test subjects.
Anyone who has ever had the privilege of having a dog as part of their family knows how sensitive, intelligent, and loving dogs are. They want to play, they want to run, they want to please. They are a species who practice unconditional love in its truest form; we could actually learn a thing or two from dogs!
The experiment
The experiment involved repeated injections straight into the brains of the puppies at intervals of weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Nine puppies received these intrusive, painful injections from birth.
At the end of the experiment, 24 hours after their last injection, the puppies were all killed. They never made their first birthday on our planet; then again, perhaps life in a lab is not worth living!
Not only is this experiment very cruel and unethical, but it is also flawed.
The thing is, the researchers were trying to find a treatment for a complex human disease. The only viable way to find cures or treatments for human diseases is to do human-relevant research. In this day and age, there are technologies available that could catapult us forward, advancing science at record speed.
Because the article does not state how the puppies were obtained or how they were housed, we have sent an Offical Information Act Request to the University to find this information out. However, due to the multiple loopholes in the system, we may never find out.
The industry is shrouded in secrecy - together, we will work to change this!
