Stop the mutilation of dogs at OSU

For the past 27 years, Ohio State University (OSU) experimenter George Billman has used taxpayer dollars to cut dogs open and induce heart attacks in them. He inserts a cuff around an artery, sews the dogs back up, then forces the dogs to run on a treadmill. He then tightens the cuff, causing a coronary artery occlusion.

His conclusion that exercise strengthens the heart has been common knowledge for decades. Of 768 dogs used by Billman, a staggering 256 of them died either on the operating table or in the days following the surgery before he could even test his "hypothesis."

PETA reviewed the records for 10 dogs recently used by Billman and found evidence that federal regulations may have been violated, including failure to minimize pain, discomfort, and distress; failure to provide adequate veterinary care; and failure to euthanize animals who were in extreme distress.

PETA has filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health calling on these agencies to investigate Billman's laboratory. We are calling on OSU to stop George Billman's invasive and unnecessary experiments on dogs.

Please contact OSU President Gordon Gee and experimenter George Billman and urge them to stop these cruel and pointless experiments on dogs.

President Gee, Dr. Billman, OSU Office of Responsible Research Practices:

The Ohio State University's 27-year old dog experiments are astonishingly irresponsible. Nowadays, human-focused models yield more relevant data and cut costs to confine, feed, dissect and discard animals.

Dr. George Billman, however, relies on old-fashioned vivisection to "prove" the established concept that exercise strengthens the cardiovascular system. He slices dogs open to implant an artery cuff, stitches the dogs back together, and makes them run on treadmills. He then constricts the cuff to induce a coronary artery occlusion. Some 768 dogs have undergone this invasive procedure. At least 256 perished during or after surgery -- before any theories could be evaluated.

Please end this magnificent waste of tax dollars, time and life. I call upon OSU to replace animal mutilation with human-centric methods. For example, researchers at Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and elsewhere use complex microtissues made from cultured cells. Brown's Jeffrey R. Morgan, medical science and engineering professor, led a team that layered cells 3-dimensionally to replicate live human organs.

As you know, in-vitro cell technology, computer automation and other innovations are gradually rendering animal research obsolete. I encourage OSU experimenters to keep pace with evolving global standards.

Plainly, dogs are not people. Size, location, texture and elasticity of their internal organs differ from humans. Moreover, findings published in Contemporary Topics in Laboratory Animal Science show animals display stress reactions that influence the researcher's understanding of scientific discovery. In fact, animal studies can endanger humans with misleading data.

Medical science is better served by applicable and humane non-animal systems. Please stop these futile dog experiments immediately.

Thank you...

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