Every day, in labs across the United States, researchers experiment on thousands of cats and dogs. They test new surgical techniques, inoculate the animals with experimental drugs and remove organs, all in the name of advancing human knowledge and developing consumer products such as face creams and window cleaners.
Until recently, no laws covered what should happen to animals that survive the lab relatively intact. That is quickly changing.
Maryland last month became the seventh state since 2014 to require all research facilities to make efforts to adopt out healthy, surviving cats and dogs to homes.
The changes are coming despite
opposition from top universities that have long been sensitive to animals' well-being, their representatives say, but
don't want the extra paperwork that might go with adoption programs. Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and several private and public universities in California initially opposed the measures. Some dropped their opposition, though, after gaining some concessions in the wording of the bills.
Johnson & Johnson, makers of pharmaceuticals and health and beauty products, said in an email to Stateline that it believes healthy dogs that it uses in testing should be placed for adoption (the company says it doesn't test on cats), and that is the company's practice in Belgium. "We have also adopted out dogs in the US on a limited basis," wrote Kellie McLaughlin, a company spokeswoman. "Based on those successes, we are creating an internal policy that would allow us to adopt out as a standard practice."
The laws
do nothing to impede research; they only create a pathway for surviving animals to find their way to welcoming homes and new experiences as beloved pets.
Comment: See: The Health & Wellness Show: The Quackery and Cruelty of Animal Medical Research