378 A Phillips and A Bellotti Cats and Dogs in Biomedical and Biochemical Research According to the government’s official USDA statistics, nearly 60,000 dogs (mostly beagles) are used in animal experimentation laboratories (USDA 2014) Significant debate has occurred for years between researchers, medical/ veterinary doctors, and concerned citizens as to whether animals (cats, dogs, rats, mice) are appropriate models when it comes to creating safe human drugs While that discussion and debate continues, even the US Food and Drug Administration has admitted that ‘a stunning out of every 10 candidate new medicines that appear safe and effective in ‘animal models’ fail in human trials due to unforeseen toxicity or lack of effectiveness.’ (HSUS and USDA 2004) The latest data shows a 96 % failure rate (Pippin 2013) Dogs, especially beagles, are not chosen for experimental protocols because they are good models for human disease They are selected because they are cooperative test subjects; ‘the size, biologic features, and cooperative, docile nature of the well-socialized dog make it the model of choice for a variety of scientific inquiries.’ (Johnson 2010, p 4) The biomedical and biochemical experimentation industry is cloaked in secrecy Data detailing the types, numbers and source of animals used in experimentation has been difficult to obtain, despite the fact that it is largely funded by public tax money A 2015 investigative TV exposé in Boston found 1299 dogs (primarily beagles) in 12 Massachusetts research laboratories Charles River Labs was the largest facility and The Wilmington Company had 750 dogs Veterinary schools and hospitals were also found to be using dogs in research Yet, when the reporter reached out to visit the facilities and see the condition of the dogs, not one institution agreed (Leamanczyk 2015) While is it believed that an overwhelming number of cats and dogs in research are purposefully bred for experimentation (via USDA Class A dealers), there are former family pet from shelters that have been sold into biomedical and biochemical laboratories Robert’s story is a rare example with a happy ending An investigation of Utah’s pound seizure practices by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals in 2009, along with advocacy from local rescue groups and citizens, resulted in overturning Utah’s mandatory pound seizure law in 2010 Part of the campaign to end pound seizure involved shelter cats being used in experimentation at the University of Utah Documents from the University showed that cats from Utah animal shelters were being used in non-survival experimentation studies The live cats had electrodes implanted in an attempt to treat traumatic injuries and