Shocking video of dogs having their teeth pulled out in name of medical testing before being put down sparks outrage

Source Mail Online
By Ashley Collman

Georgia Regents University is drawing criticism from animal rights activists who claim the school is euthanizing dogs in ‘unnecessary’ dental experiments.

The Humane Society posted a video last week, taken as part of a three-month undercover investigation, which shows dogs having their teeth pulled, replaced with implants and then euthanized to test bone samples.

Two days after the video was released, activists organized a protest on the campus calling for the end of animal testing, waving signs that said ‘Humanity: not just for humans’ and ‘Dogs should not die for dentures’, according to the Augusta Chronicle. Another demonstration is scheduled for December 7.

The undercover video, narrated by actress Kim Basinger, focuses on a dog named ‘Shy Guy’ used as a test subject. Shy Guy and others, Bassinger says, were bought from ‘unscrupulous dealers’ and put through ‘unnecessary suffering’.

Another dog is shown at the end of the research process, having been euthanized so that researchers could pull a little piece of jaw bone to sample.

Humane Society spokesman Stephanie Twining says that researchers use the bone sample to compare GRU’s own dentures to that of a competitor.

While using dogs for this kind of research is legal, the activists believe it is still a moral breach.

The video also points out that GRU gets its dogs from a dealer that is under investigation by the USDA.

The USDA did in fact file a complaint against the university’s dealer – Kenneth H Schroeder – in September saying he improperly obtained dogs, impeded an inspection of his operation in Wells, Minnesota and provided substandard care for dogs there.

Mr Schroeder is a random-source class-B dealer which means he can get dogs from auctions, ‘free to a good home’ ads, animal control, and even shelters to resell to research facilities.

From 2005 to 2012, GRU obtained 186 dogs from Mr Schroeder. The six used in dental experiments were obtained in November 2012, operated on in March and euthanized in May. However, there are no allegations that the dogs obtained by the university were improperly obtained.

And NBC News points out that GRU is far from the worst offender when it comes to using dogs in experimental research.

Central Carolina Community College used 50 dogs in its programs in 2012, twice as much as the 22 GRU reported.

And that’s nothing compared to the 1,158 Duke University used in 2011, including 101 defined as ‘Column D’ – to be used in ‘experiments…involving accompanying pain or distress to the animals for which appropriate anesthetic, analgesic, or tranquilizing drugs were used.’

GRU has since responded to the video, saying that dogs are used ‘infrequently’ in university research, and that all received anethesia during surgery and pain medication afterwards. 

‘The research being done with dogs is neither frivolous nor unnecessary, as alleged by the investigation, and is performed in order to develop safe, effective dental procedures for people,’ said Dr Mark Hamrick, GRU’s Senior Vice President of Research in a statement.

The investigation has so upset one GRU undergrad, she plans on switching schools.

Pre-veterinary science student Hannah Kellems said it took her about two hours to be able to watch the video start to finish without looking away.

Seeing the whole video straight convinced her and another student to transfer schools.

‘What kind of veterinarian would I be if I stuck at a school that was potentially abusing animals? That goes against everything I’m for,’ Ms Kellems told the Aiken Standard.

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and when the spacemen decided to land,
for our wicked species they had
something special planned.
to do to us what we did to
others because we could.
in horror and terror, frozen,
manunkind stood!!!

Karen Lyons Kalmenson