This post has some details on using animals for research with some details that I'm certain animal lovers might not like. Please don't read further if you fall into this category. I don't like doing animal studies, but I've come to understand that some animal testing is necessary, though every possible precaution should be made to ensure animals are well taken care of. Plus, I won't experiment on monkeys or do anything psychological...or anything that causes pain. When a university or company gets in trouble for animal stuff, I immediately boycott their products. This includes not collaborating with some of the best physicians in the world...which I've had to do because of their treatment of animals. I've disabled comments just-in-case. That being said here's the post:
A friend came into town and we were having some pretty heavy discussions on the use of animals in research. We both came to agreement that animals could be used more efficiently, and fewer killed by researchers, but it got me thinking about doing a post on animal research. I got an email months ago about the expectations of doing animal research coming out of grad school when you don't really want to (where the highest species a grad student works on is usually live mice...though there are the rare wealthy labs...). This could be a valid concern because there is a lot of money in industry for animal research and we do a ton of it. And a lot of people hate seeing dogs, cats, pigs, etc. on the experimentation table. I didn't want to do a post before, but thought it may be useful for students to read about jumping into animal studies from the perspective of someone that did not want to do them originally.
I want to preface this with the fact that I love animals. I have two dogs now, and throughout my life I've had rabbits, fish, and even a pig as pets. I hadn't seen an animal die until graduate school (I swear all my old pets are at farms...) when I found a local butcher to get cheap, high quality meat from and he offered to show me the process from farm to table. I was heartbroken but grateful because it has made me far more grateful for the meat that I eat. And I never ever waste it now. In my home country meat is a side dish of small quantity so it was easy to eat all of it. But after coming here I started to eat more meat and noticed a little waste if I wasn't hungry and things spoiled in the fridge. I hate seeing animals die, but I always thank them (or their "spirit" if I just have the meat) for their life. Of all the animals I've seen pass I have never gotten over it, even if it's just on an operating table and all I see is an open wound because of the dressing on it.
In graduate school I worked with mice and pigs (I didn't do bio before grad school....I was a physicist). The mice were transgenic used for all kinds of things. When I had to kill and harvest my first mouse I was terrified and felt like I wasn't built for this kind of research. I brought this up to my advisor and she understood but explained to me the usefulness of animal research and how using surrogates would be impossible to replace all animals with because of inaccuracies. And how people would die without it. But she didn't pressure me. She referred me to organizations like kids4research.org and explained the necessity of animal research. I told myself I would continue to try it and by the fifth animal I wasn't as upset by it, though I have never gotten over the fact that I'm ending its life. One thing I made sure of was that every experiment went well and gave me good data. I didn't want the mouse's life to end for no reason. I've seen so many people waste animals or the data, and it really pisses me off.
I moved on to porcine subjects and had the same reservations, though didn't have to do as much of the killing/husbandry. This was handled by techs and vets. But I still maintained the same level of respect for the animal: ensuring that pain and anesthesia was completely under control, death occurred painlessly, and data was very complete. And I thanked the animal ever time...even though I know they can't hear me...or understand me.
When I moved to industry I started to have to do research on dogs. Dogs hold a very special place in my heart so this took a while to get used to. But I realize that there's no other way other than testing on humans since other animal models have proven inaccurate. Technically I do test on humans, though the priority is the treatment...the data is just icing for me. Talking to other people at my company there are plenty that don't go into the OR. They get to do awesome R&D without ever seeing an animal. They just see the data. I forced myself to come to terms with the canine studies because I knew that if I was there I could guide the study from the control room to get the most out of the animal. So if you're worried about the animal study just mention this to the recruiter and they'll try to find the suitable environment for you. Or just try to desensitize yourself, as I have. When I see my dogs at home (one's sitting on my feet right now!) I never think of what happens in the OR. I separate myself. It makes it easier to separate given that all I see of the animals are a couple squares of skin as revealed by windows in the dressing over the animal. I occasionally I'll see a paw, and this gets to me. At first I would hang out in the corner of the OR, letting the doctors and techs handle the testing with interjections from myself when I want a change to the testing or more testing done. I now stand right by the table because I realized it makes the testing more effective with the 'expert' right there by the table. And I want to make sure testing is as efficient as possible. Never wasting an animal. For the most part though I don't really have to touch live animals anymore. I'll get excised tissue but this doesn't affect my psyche at all. Just seeing the animal on the table.
It's impossible to get away from animal products. If someone says they don't use anything that has an animal byproduct they're wrong. When I was at the butcher they explained everything that animal products are used in or that have been tested on animals and I realized that getting away from animal use would be impossible. And for me, I really care about patients and their families. So if I have to bite-the-bullet and do something a little uncomfortable for me then I'll do it. Seeing the patients I've touched makes it all worth it. Though it did take some time....
