Caring for Animals in the Classroom
Having an animal in the classroom can be fun and educational. Along with the pleasure of interacting with the animal, the student must also learn about and meet the needs of the animal.
AALAS has developed a series of fact sheets providing information on the care of a variety of animals often found in classrooms. These fact sheets provide some biological information about the animal, advice on housing and feeding needs, and handling tips. The most common diseases affecting these particular species are also described in order to assist the students and teachers in recognizing signs that would indicate the need to consult a veterinarian.
Additionally, AALAS recommends that students form a school-wide or classroom-specific Critter Care Committee whose main responsibility is to develop a classroom animal care proposal before the animals are brought into the classroom; this committee would also oversee the animal care during the school year, including weekend and holiday care.
Animals in research
| Mice | Rabbits | Cats |
| Dogs | Primates | Other Animals |
From mice
to dogs, pigs to electric eels, a variety of animal species
contribute each year to medical breakthroughs that save millions of
human lives each year. Through research on these animals, scientists
have discovered cures and preventions for a number of human and
animal ailments.
Although it is difficult to discover the total number of laboratory animals used each year, figures are available for most species. In the most comprehensive report, published in 1986, estimates show that 17 million to 22 million animals were used in research and testing in the United States, the majority of which were mice and rats.
According to reports from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Enforcement for 2001, 1,236,903 animals – including dogs, cats, guinea pigs, primates, hamsters and rabbits – were used by registered research facilities. The USDA’s data does not include mice and rats, and estimates show this data represents about 10% of total animals used.
While animals continue to play an important role in biomedical research, the numbers used have dropped significantly in recent years, as scientists take advantage of technology and computer models. Through improved care and housing of laboratory animals and refinement of experiments, fewer animals are needed to accomplish significant goals of medical research. According to the National Survey of Laboratory Animal Facilities and Resources, there was a 40% drop in the number of animals used between 1968 and 1978. Based on available data, it appears that laboratory animal use peaked in 1970 and has dropped as much as 50% since that time. The greatest declines occurred in the use of dogs and cats.
Species used:
-
Rats, mice and other rodents: 90-95%
-
Dogs and cats: less than 1%
-
Non-human primates: less than 0.3%.
One of the main goals of laboratory animal scientists is assuring research animals are not exposed to any unnecessary pain or stress. While the Animal Welfare Act strictly regulates experiments on animals, statistics show that most experiments are not painful to animals.
According to the 2001 report by the US Secretary of Agriculture, most research – 91% – was not painful to the animals. In the majority of cases, 57%, animals were not exposed to or involved in any painful procedures. In 34% of cases, animals received anesthesia or pain-relieving drugs during procedures that could have involved some pain or distress to the animals. In 9% of the research projects, anesthetics or analgesics were not used because they would have interfered with the results of the research or testing.
Following are some of the animals used in research and their contributions to human and animal health.
Mice in research:
Along
with rats and other rodents, mice make up the majority of
animals used in medical research. Their small size and low
cost makes them ideal for laboratory experiments. In addition, scientists
can breed different strains of mice with natural genetic deficiencies to
achieve specific models of human diseases.
Cancer: Through breeding, researchers have developed mice with leukemia, breast cancer and many other types of cancer, allowing new treatments to be tested on animal models, instead of humans.
- Cells from human cancer tumors can be placed into immunologically deficient mice without rejection. This allows the study of human cancer without risking human lives.
- Studies with mice have shown that the immune system can be stimulated by genetically altered tumors, leading to hopes that gene therapy can be used to fight cancer.
Immunology: Scientists are searching continuously for a best animal model for the study of AIDS. Much that we know about the devastating disease has come from research using mice, allowing scientists to apply information gained from mice to humans suffering from AIDS.
Product safety: Mice, along with other rodents, are used in product safety tests, including measurements of the effects of long-term exposure of a product. Mice are also used to test a product’s safety on pregnant women and nursing babies.
Virology:
-
Research with mice helped develop vaccines to counter influenza, polio, yellow fever and rabies.
-
Mice were also used in studies that show that the host, as well as the agent, plays a major role in viral infections.
Fertility treatments: The successful transfer of human embryos is possible today because of experiments in mice. This technique can also be used to improve reproduction in domestic and endangered species.
Rabbits in research:
The
similarity between the physiology of rabbits and humans makes the rabbit
a good model for research into human disease.
Immune system: The ability to produce tumors in rabbits makes them useful models to study chemo/immunotherapy, as well as immunoprevention of certain cancers.
Cholesterol studies: Rabbits have been used to test Probucol, a drug that lowers blood cholesterol and retards the development of hardening of the arteries.
Eye and ear: Rabbits are used to study middle and inner ear infections, which affect millions of infants and children each year.
- Rabbits are also used to study Entropion, a condition in which the eyelashes are turned inward, as well as Glaucoma, which often results in blindness.
- Rabbits are used in eye and skin irritation tests to develop appropriate procedures for handling certain chemicals and to predict the toxicity of accidental exposure.
- More than 10,000 blind or visually impaired people have benefited from corneal transplants, possible only because of hundreds of trials on rabbits.
Drug metabolism: Rabbits have been used to study the effects of marijuana on the central nervous system.
Cats in research:
Cats
represent less than 1 percent of animals used in research each year. However,
the contributions of these animals are extremely valuable. From research
into the AIDS virus to discoveries about our nervous system, cats play
a large role in researching human and animal diseases.
AIDS research: Cats can develop feline AIDS, a virus similar to the human AIDS disease. Both diseases have similar symptoms – swollen lymph nodes, extreme weight loss and respiratory infections. Through research on cats, scientists have discovered a vaccine for feline leukemia and hope this breakthrough can be used as a model for a human AIDS vaccine.
Vision: Studies on cats have given researchers better understanding of eye disorders like Amblyopia ("lazy eye") and Strabismus ("cross-eye"). Cats also have contributed to research on glaucoma and cataract surgery.
Nervous system: Researchers have learned a lot about the sensory system of the cat. Because of similarities between the neurological system of the cat and that of humans, cats make excellent models for studying the spinal cord, vision and other types of research involving the nervous system.
- Research with cats has led to understanding of the function of neurons, the chemical transmission of nerve impulses, specific functions of nerve cells, functional organization of the brain and mechanisms of nerve impulse transmissions.
- Cats are being used to measure how humans recover from traumatic injuries and strokes.
- Cats are also used to study Gangliosidosis, a lipid storage disorder that causes skeletal abnormalities and mental retardation in humans.
Hearing disorders: Both humans and cats can suffer from hearing loss as a result of exposure to high level noise. This similarity has enabled researchers to study the effects of noise on cats and apply it to humans.
Diabetes: Diabetic cats are useful models for the study of Diabetes Mellitus. Through the use of cats, researchers have learned more about the protein that hinders insulin production. This research may lead to a cure for diabetes.
Toxoplasmosis: Thousands of infants are born each year in the United States with Toxoplasmosis, a disease that is carried by cats. Research is being done using cats to develop treatments and protective measures against the disease.
Animal diseases: Biomedical research using cats has led to improved animal surgical procedures and new vaccines to prevent animal diseases. Thanks to research, the life expectancy of house cats has been expanded more than eight years. In fact, some pets can live up to more than 20 years.
Dogs in research:
Dogs
also represent less than 1 percent of animal models used in research.
Their contributions to the various fields of medicine have been extremely
valuable.
Heart and lungs:
- Through research on dogs, researchers learned how to operate on the heart.
- Researchers created the heart-lung machine using dogs. This machine allows surgeons to sustain life while performing heart surgery.
- Coronary bypass surgery, artificial heart valve insertion and pacemaker implantation were tested and studied in dogs before being used in humans.
- Through studying dogs, researchers learned to correct the defect that causes blue babies. A surgical procedure perfected in dogs, allows doctors to now fix a congenital error in the development of the large vessels connecting the heart and lungs.
- Scientists have learned to treat Emphysema through canine research.
- Dogs were vital to the development of angioplasty, in which a small tube is threaded up through the femoral artery to unblock coronary arteries.
Organ transplants: Dogs were the first animals used in the attempt to conquer rejection during organ transplantation. The 1990 Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to researchers who studied the immunologic basis of organ rejection using dogs as animal models.
Diabetics: Researchers first discovered that diabetics lacked the hormone insulin through studies in dogs. Surgeons are currently using canines to study methods of transplanting insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.
Trauma and shock: Dogs are used to train emergency room physicians and nurses in lifesaving techniques. Studies in dogs have led to new techniques to treat post-shock infections, heart complications, kidney functions and blood pressure levels.
Skeletal system: Hip replacement surgery was first developed in dogs. Dogs were also instrumental in creating replacement and repair techniques for many other joints.
Neurological diseases: A colony of Brittany Spaniels has been developed to serve as a model for Lou Gehrig’s disease, which destroys nerves in the brain and spinal cord and strikes about 5,000 Americans each year.
Animal diseases: Studies in dogs have led to the invention of devices and treatments for animals – pacemakers, hip and artificial joint replacements, diabetes treatments, dental care, chemotherapy and canine vaccines for rabies.
Primates in research:
Although
primates represent a tiny portion of animals used in research – 1/3 of
1 percent – they have made huge contributions to major medical breakthroughs,
most notably in the treatment of polio and Rh disease.
AIDS: Scientists are learning how HIV works through studying its counterpart in primates – Simian Immunodeficiency Virus. Some species of primates are also carriers of HIV, although it does not kill them.
Cancer: Research on baboons has led to a cell-separation techniques that allows cancerous cells in bone marrow to be removed without destroying healthy cells.
- Chimpanzees are being used to develop a new approach to diagnosing cancer.
- The cotton-topped tamarin is being used to study treatment and prevention of colon cancer.
Heart disease: Research on monkeys has led to development of dietary supplements to treat a condition that can lead to blockage of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the western world.
Baboons are being used to develop artificial blood vessels to bypass or replace blocked arteries.
Infectious diseases: Drugs are being studied to cure Malaria, a parasitic disease that kills 2.3 million people each year around the world.
Neurological diseases: Primate research has identified one of the important features of Alzheimer’s disease – an abundance of clusters of nerve endings in the brain. Primates are being used to examine ways of restoring muscle function to paralyzed limbs.
Nutrition: Researchers are studying obesity in monkeys in hopes of finding a way to control body weight. Monkeys are also being used to study Taurine deficiency, which causes vision problems and zinc deficiency, which causes growth retardation in infants and fetuses.
Vision: A surgical technique to remove retinal scar tissue has enabled macular cells to regenerate in monkeys. This research may lead to a cure of human macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 55.
Other studies: Other studies of primates include the effects of pollution on infants, research on Multiple Sclerosis, Down’s Syndrome, liver disease, drug abuse and mental retardation.
Other animals:
Most
research centers on studying mice and other rodents. However, a variety
of other animals are occasionally used as well.
- Pigs have been instrumental in studying the healing process of burn victims. Pig skin is often used as a temporary bandage that protects patients from infection and allows human skin to generate. One of the greatest contributions of pig research has been the development of the CAT scan, which allows doctors to examine organs without surgery.
- Research on sheep led researchers to perfect and implant the arteriovenous shunt, a device that allows patients with kidney failure to be connected to dialysis machines for long term treatment. Sheep have been used in the development and testing of a device that assists lung functions in infants soon after birth.
- Ferrets have been used in the study of the influenza virus.
- Woodchucks have been used to research human liver cancer and Hepatitis B.
- Armadillos have been used to test a vaccine for Leprosy victims and are being studied to develop a preventative treatment in areas of the world where Leprosy is most common.
- Guinea pigs are used in a variety of studies: nutritional studies and Vitamin C deficiencies.
- Lobsters are used to study Syphilis, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s Choreas, all motor coordination diseases.
- Chinchillas are used as models to study middle ear infection, which commonly plague infants and children.
- Electric eels are used in neurobiological studies.
- Opossums are used to study the esophagus and bacterial endocarditis.
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