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March 31, 2021
Allyson J. Bennett, PhD and Jeremy D. Bailoo, PhD
Pets benefit directly from animals in testing, researching, and teaching veterinary medicine. Indeed, veterinary medicine is big business that is projected to hit $ 12 billion by 2022. In the US alone, 67% of households reportedly have pets. Data from the American Pet Products Association’s survey of pet owners for the 2019-20 period showed that 63.4 million U.S. households reported having a dog and 42.7 million a cat.
Annual animal count reports for Zoetis LLC and Elanco. In the United States, universities and companies that conduct research with animals such as dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, and monkeys, among others, are required to register with the United States Department of Agriculture and produce an annual report on the number of each species in the Facility and is used for research or testing purposes. The annual reports are posted on the USDA website and are freely available to the public. As a result, detailed information on animal use is available to both public institutions and private companies.
Chimpanzee in Gombe Stream National Park. Photo credits: Roland, CC BY-SA 2.0
Beyond Pets: Medicines and Vaccines against Gombe Chimpanzees, Zoo Monkeys, and Farm Animals
The role of non-human animal research and testing in the health and wellbeing of other animals goes well beyond the manufacture of medicines for pets. As we wrote earlier, animal health benefits from veterinary drugs and treatments in global agriculture (read more here). Just one example is the decades of development of a rinderpest vaccine. As Dr. Paul Browne wrote on Speaking of Research in 2010:
Rinderpest eradication is a timely reminder that while we should often focus on the contribution of animal research to human medicine, it should also be remembered that this is also the key to much of the advances in veterinary medicine.
Recent news shed light on zoo gorillas benefiting from a COVID-19 vaccine. The development is not new, however – animals in zoos have long benefited from veterinary medicine. In addition, animals that live in natural environments, including the famous Gombe chimpanzees studied by Jane Goodall and others, have benefited from veterinary medicine.
In 1966 the chimpanzees in Gombe had an outbreak of polio. What did Jane Goodall do?
Once we realized we were getting the full dose of the Nairobi vaccine right away, we would put the required number of drops in a banana.
Goodall’s decision was controversial, as evidenced by the ongoing discussion of whether, when, and how humans should interfere with the health of wild animal populations. Science journalist Ed Yong captured this dilemma in an article about the development of the Ebola vaccine for African monkeys. What is clear is that the polio vaccine was developed and tested using laboratory monkeys, mice and rats. As a result, the vaccination administered by Goodall and her colleagues to the Gombe chimpanzees depended on animal studies and testing: some animals benefited from the use of other animals.
Medicines for pets and other animals should be labeled so consumers know whether animal testing and testing have contributed to their development and safety
Speaking of research, along with others, have previously called for drugs, vaccines, and medical devices to be properly labeled to highlight the role animal research and testing plays in their development.
In 2012 we submitted a proposal for the labeling of medicinal products and asked: “Shouldn’t the public have a right to know where their medicines are coming from?” We urged pharmaceutical companies, scientific research institutions, medical charities, and federal agencies around the world to advance policies and practices that more clearly provide patients and consumers with the information needed to make decisions that are consistent with their beliefs. In the area of human health, we have also called for transparency in decision-making, with both individual citizens and political bodies being informed of all the consequences of their decisions. For example, if a country bans a certain type of research, it is important to understand how that decision may affect future medical advances.
The same principles should be applied to veterinary medicinal products for pets and other animals.
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