In surgical residency programs, a few pound animals are used in the same manner as described above for veterinary schools. Areas of Research Where Pound Animals are Used Pound animals are used for research into the cause, treatment and prevention of disease in humans and animals. Such research includes work in cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, lung disorders, orthopedics, birth defects, hearing loss and blindness. Most current medical and surgical methods for treating heart and kidney disease have been, and continue to be, developed through research with dogs. Because the cat's nervous system is the closest animal system to the human's, cats are frequently the best animal models for research on the brain and on visual and auditory function and disease.
Cats are also essential to promising research into improved treatment for stroke victims.
In the U.S., more than 10 million animals are killed annually in pounds and shelters. In Michigan, the annual figure is about 500,000. Animals are killed if they are not claimed by their owners or if adoptive homes cannot be found, because pounds cannot afford to care for them indefinitely. Because a heavy financial burden of animal control rests on state and local government, much of this money, needed to cover such costs as personnel, facilities, food and euthanasia drugs, comes directly from citizens' tax dollars. Percentage of Pound Animals Turned in By Owners Estimates vary greatly.