Evening star., 1949-04-19
Defends Animal Experimentation
As n Service 70 Humanity

Tr TIE EATER ef Tas ssas,
Two letters from big hearted persons ar-
peared in Fridays Star. protesting the Use
Of unclaimed dogs from the District Pound
for vivtsection. The horrors O; v!viseciior.
as they. describe them righifuiiy arouse our
fears and protests. and we should demand
that they cease.
But vivisection IS not what these and many
other kind persons believe II 70 be. The
name itself seems TO indicate that II In the
ruthless cutting up OF living animals,
Animal experimentation has been used the
world over 70 save human life and prevent
wholesale suffering for many. many years
since long before Louis Pasteur. the ,sreat
French bacteriologist. first saved the life OF
q boy who had been terribly bitten by
mad dog. q dog afiicted with rabies. which
is fatal TO dogs and all other animals as
well as humans II they are not promptly
given the "Pasteur treatment" after being
bitten. Pasteur discovered this treatment
only by experiments with animals. and II has
saved people all over the world from a sad
death from rabies. II the children OF the
writers Of The Star letters should be bitten
by a mad dog. prompt Pssteur treatment
would be their only hope.
But Pasteur also studied by animal ex-
Fermentation. other serious diseases OF men
and animals. He found the streptococcus
that caused "child-bed fever" which killed
many women. and discovered protective vac
clnes for fatal anthrax in cattle and sheep,
and for chicken cholera. and conquered the
disease of silkworms that had crippled
Frances silk industry.
How Tubercule Was Discovered.
About the same time another bacteriolo-
gist the German Koch. discovered by animal
experimentation the bacteria causing six diff
ferent kinds OF infections In surgical opera
tions and. best OF all discovered the tuber-
cule bacillus which still kills hundreds of
thousands of people with tuberculosis every
year. and the tuber test for tuberculosis
which helps place patients under early treat
ment.
Diptheria killed thousands OF children
every year UP to about so years ago. Animal
experimentation almost has eradicated it by
using horses to develop antitoxin in their
blood serum.
Thousands Of scientists in many countries
have studied numerous diseases and their
cure and prevention by using many kinds of
animals
In genetics. scientists have studied the
laws of heredity in mice. breeding them and
crossing them as Mendel grew his garden
peas, and they have found that his laws pre-
vail
Our Agriculture Department has studied
many diseases of cattle and other farm stock
by animal experimentation. And when
was Yale student so years ago there was
a happy cat running around the laboratory
whose spleen had been removed to see what
the effect would be. The cat showed that
the human spleen probably could be removed
safely, and that has been done in leukemia
sort Of blood cancer In which the spleen
often is enlarged to four or fve times its
normal size.
Just lately scientists have studied the ef-
fects of the cosmic rays on tuberculosis BY
injecting mice with tubercule bacill and
exposing them to the rays.
Fruitful Experiments With Oxygen.
Respiration was once thought to be simply
the means of keeping the body cool. Samuel
Pepys. In his famous diary (about 1861 .
told of hearing a lecture on 1t and that no
one knew how or why people breathed. But
Robert Boyle, who had invented the air
pump. first proved in 1860 that air was nee
esSary to life by shutting animals up and
pumping the air out of their box. And John
Mayow discovered by experiments a little
later that the dark blood In the veins is
changed to the bright red blood in the ar
teries by absorbing some unknown gas from
the air In the lungs through our breathing.
Chemists later found this gas to be oxygen.
1t is sad but true that man lives only by
the suffering Of animals Millions OF cattle.
sheep and hogs killed yearly for food suffer
on the range and in cattle cars. Peary's
dogs suffered, dragging his sledges toward the
Pole More than one explorer had to kill
some dogs to feed the rest. to keep going.
DR.. Grenfell. the medical missionary to Lab
rador, once was caught on an ice foe with
some of his faithful dogs. He had to kill
them to wrap himself in their skins to keep
from freezing.
Many of the dogs. rabbits and other ami
mails used in medical schools are used to
study the effects Of new medicines fed to
them by mouth or injected with a hypo-
dermic needle, exactly as drugs are given TO
patients. Others are used to show students
the effects Of drugs already in use. Others
are used to teach them how to perform sur
gical operations before they operate on men,
women and children. Such dogs are given
ether or other anesthetics. and If the opera
tion will cripple dog. as amputations would
do, the animal painlessiy Is killed. A friend
Of mine. a prominent Washington surgeon,
gained part Of his rare skill by doing diff
cult abdominal operations on dogs under
anesthesia in the famous Mayo clinic In
Minnesota. So humane animal experimental
tion has brought relief TO human suffering.
and added years to our lives.
PAUL B. JOHNSON. MD.
Emphasize Humane Purpose
OF the District Pound
TO the Editor Of The Star:
A news article protesting vivisection Of
dogs which appeared In The Star. April II.
attracted my attention. ] also should like TO
voice very strong protest against the pro-
posed legislation for the use Of dogs from the
Washington Pound for this purpose.
1t Is inhuman and cruel. A dog is one Of
mans best friends and performs many .
brave act for him. A dog Is not such o dumb
animal as some would have us believe.
Naturally. we want TO help further science.
but not at such sacrifice.
World suffering does not seem to have
softened our attitudes towards life. Medical
men should be sufficiently versatile to look
for experiments less painful in other fields.
urge continued protests.
A DOG LOVER.