From: saavik@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Marla Belzowski (K-9's))
Subject: Re:  Poison Alert!!
Organization: Purdue University
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 02:53:48 GMT

In article <e2oq022n32DB01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> bws20@DUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Brian W Simmons) writes:
>
>Well, we cyclically see posts about AR activities at dog shows and
>research labs here on rpd.  I, too, wonder whether anything of this
>sort has ever taken place at a dog show (I know laboratories have
>been attacked).
>

Even if it hasn't, why take a chance.  Better to over react than
risk the life of your dog.

>I also often see references to incidents wherein dogs are stolen or
>are adopted from shelters, only to wind up in a research lab.  This is
>_always_ mentioned anytime someone talks about tattooing dogs: "Don't
>tattoo on their ears, they can be cut off," or "Research labs won't
>buy dogs that have been tattooed on their bellies," etc.
>

There was an entire 48 hours segment on this about a year and a half
ago.  A fellow was beening interviewed after he had been let out
of prison for felony theift of pets.  He discribed several instances
of how he stole pets (mostly small hunting hounds and beagles) from
the backyards of people's houses or from a back woods hunter.
If they had tattooed ears he stated that he used his pocket knife to
cut the ears off so he could sell the dogs to labs.  He usually
kept the dogs in a barn or a shed behind his house for a few weeks to
make sure everyone would forget about the "pet" and he wouldn't be questioned
for transporting them if he was caught.  He said he got between $50 and $75
dollars a dog for healthy ones of uniform size and $20 - $30 for cats.
He said the labs asked very few questions and took almost any dog he
had.  Those they didn't take he dumped on county roads of threw out of
the truck (while it was moving) where ever.  He figured if they made it home
no one would be the wiser.  He was a real sick-o with a beat-up
blue Chevy pickup (it had boards for the trunk sides) and a ratty 
white fiberglass cap with the windows boarded up.  If he was lying,
it was darn convincing.

>I say, "Sez who?"  Does anyone have any documentation of dogs being stolen
>and sold to a research lab?  _Are_ dogs taken from shelters and sent to
>labs?  I know this has been the storyline for a couple of mysteries, one
>by Susan Conant (I think) and one by another female author.  So, it does
>make for a good story, but does it coincide with reality.
>

The LaPorte County Human Shelter (run by local officials) was 
shut down three years ago and all employes brough up on charges
for selling(placing) the dogs with a Lab Broker in Warsaw IN.  
The couple who were the brokers would take all dogs (They had approx 50
on the site when they were charged) from shelters in the area.
They would keep the dogs a few weeks and then sell them to labs.
They never took tattoed dogs unless the tattooes were in the ears or
on the lips (which were cut off again).  Jane Cline, who was my
Vet's receptionist, took over the Shelter under the supervision of
my Vet and two other local vets (along with a citizen's watch group)
to run the shelter.  Trail Creek Dog Training CLub in LaPorte (which
I also belong to) helps with funding for the shelter.  We have helped them
collect money for all new cages, cleaning supplies, food drives and
remodeling.  The shelter gets some taxpayers money from the county.

>I have a couple of degrees in science and find it hard to believe that
>many researchers would want some random assortment of dogs of
>indeterminate genetics to use in their experiments.  Given the importance
>of controlling as many variables as possible in an experiment, it is
>much more likely that they would raise the dogs themselves or purchase the
>dogs from a supplier who does raise them.  This seems really clear to me.
>

They raise them too, but it too expensive to keep doing.  It's much
cheaper to buy the kind you need from brokers.


>There might be some uses for random dogs, for example a Veterinary School
>might not be real concerned about the dog's genetic makeup if all they
>are going to do is anesthetize it and break its legs so students can learn
>to set them. (As an aside, I believe a lot of racing greyhounds wind up
>at the vet schools; Colorado State got some from the track just south of
>town).
>

Greyhounds are used extensively because they are easy to get from
tracks.  The are also cheap because the raceing owners don't have
any uses for them.


>So, let's see some documentation rather than speculation and possibly
>unfounded gossip.  Anyone with a valid reference, please post it.
>Anyone who has information on the number of places using dogs in
>research, I for one would like to see it.  I would like to know how many
>dogs are used in research each year. Another aside:  If you were a beagle
>I think you would have a much greater chance of being a research subject
>than any other breed.  It seems to me that most studies I have read
>involved beagles.
>
>bws

Does the above seem like proof enough?  It is to me.  All my
dogs are tattoed and I AM parinoid, but my dogs are safe because of
it.

--------------------------
Marla Belzowski   saavik@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
(too lazy to fix the .sig)


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