Did you know there are around 6 million vertebrate animals dissected each year in US high schools alone? Plus an unknown additional number used in colleges, middle and elementary schools?
Where do these animals come from?
Well, from different sources such as their natural habitats, animal breeders and dealers, pounds, shelters, ranches and slaughterhouses.
And did you know not all of these animals are already dead?
Many animals are obtained alive so students can perform terminal surgeries (also known as non-survival surgeries) which are procedures performed on live, sedated animals which will be euthanized after the procedure. These animals only serve the purpose of training the veterinary students but there is an important part of the training that is missing here. They don’t learn about the recovery and the post-operative healing.
The use of animals for teaching in veterinary schools is becoming increasingly controversial and many schools are looking for more humane alternatives to do their teaching.
READ MORE: A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT AND HER MOTHER ARE ON A CRUSADE TO BAN CAT DISSECTION IN THE CLASSROOMS. THEY NEED YOUR SIGNATURE!
There is finally a viable alternative that may end with the animal use and testing in the name of science and education. It is the SynDaver Canine and it will save the lives of thousands of dogs for a start.
SynDaver Labs are known for producing sophisticated anatomically synthetic human models that replicate human anatomy in great detail to provide an alternative to live patients and cadavers in medical training. Well, this technology was now also formulated for dogs.
SynDaver Synthetic Canine came to life when the University of Florida approached Dr. Christopher Sakezles, founder of SynDaver Labs, about a project involving the production of canine organs and tissues for their College of Veterinary Medicine. This model includes nearly every bodily structure and anatomical component found in a living dog: realistic skin, fat, bones, muscles, ligaments, fully articulating joints and each of the bodily systems. Plus, it is compatible with all known imaging equipment, including CT, MRI, fluoroscopy and ultrasound, and all surgical systems.
Christopher Sakezles told The Dodo:
“From an ethical standpoint, this is important because it eliminates the need to sacrifice an animal (…) The SynDaver Canine is a piece of capital equipment that only needs to be purchased once (it will last forever), and so over time it will become much more cost-effective than live animals or animal cadavers.”
This is a great idea! So many animals (dogs for a start) will be saved with this technology!
And even though the company is successfully growing, they claim it’s not so much about the money but about saving animals. However, they still know not every school will be willing to pay for the cost of the SynDaver Canine so they decided to start one of the most ambitious crowdfunding campaigns in history.
Their goal is to fully equip every accredited veterinary college in the world with enough SynDaver Synthetic Canines to meet the full scope of their educational needs. They want to provide 20 synthetic canine models FREE OF CHARGE to each of the 49 accredited veterinary colleges they have selected.
They know that even without this campaign, many schools will choose this technology over the use of animals but it may take a decade to change things. With this campaign, they can achieve this faster and this is where YOU come in. The goal is huge: 24 million dollars but any small donation can bring them closer to their goal.
I believe it’s totally worth it because this will give them the means to continue this technology to develop synthetic models of other animals. What started with dogs will continue with cats, horses, pigs, sheep, etc. And less animals will be hurt in the name of education and science.
If you want to help with this campaign, just follow this link. And even if you can’t donate, share this story so it reaches someone who can. Let’s make this happen!
Via: The Dodo | Indie Gogo | Neavs | Veterinay Practice