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Term and Local Animal Shelter Essay

Decent Essays

Micaela Diaz
Case 1:
The Psychology Department is requesting permission from your committee to use 10 rats per semester for demonstrations in a physiological psychology class. The students will work in groups of three: each group will be given a rat.
The students will first perform surgery on the rats. Each animal with be anesthetized. Following standard surgical procedures, an incision will be made in the scalp and two holes drilled in the animal's skull. Electrodes will be lowered into the brain to create lesions on each side. The animals will then be allowed to recover.
Several weeks later, the effects of destroying this part of the animal's brain will be tested in a shuttle avoidance task in which animals will learn when to cross …show more content…

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.
It costs at least 10 times as much to breed animals for research purposes.
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.
Response:
Over all, I have to say this is also unethical. First off, they lack a clear scientific purpose and the researchers have not asked a specific or important scientific question. Also, the location of where they obtain these dogs is unethical. By the APA guidelines, it is said the animals may be obtained through accredited companies which in this case is not a Homeless Animal Shelter.
The comment stating, “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

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