Doctors’ Orders: 500 Physicians Call On TAMU to End Its Cruel Dog Labs

Five hundred physicians—including 100 who have treated human patients with muscular dystrophy (MD)—have asked Texas A&M University (TAMU) to end its cruel MD experiments on dogs and instead conduct research that will help humans suffering from the disease.

PETA took their message to the university’s recent Board of Regents meetings and a full-page ad was placed in the November 14 issue of TAMU’s student paper, The Battalion.

Doctors condemn TAMU dog labs

Hundreds of physicians have a message for TAMU: These cruel and wasteful tests hurt dogs and do nothing to help humans living with MD.

A letter to TAMU Chancellor John Sharp that was signed by all the doctors states, in part, the following:

As a physician, I am writing to ask that Texas A&M University halt the breeding and use of dogs in muscular dystrophy experiments. As canine research has failed for decades to produce an effective treatment for patients suffering from this fatal disease, now is an opportune time for the board to insist that the university focus its resources on human-relevant research.

Sensitive dogs are bred and tormented for useless experiments.

Video footage obtained by PETA shows dogs suffering from MD who were caged, sometimes alone, inside barren metal cells in TAMU’s labs. Their swollen tongues and weakened jaw muscles made it difficult for them to swallow even thin gruel, and strings of drool hung from their mouths.

Dogs who didn’t exhibit symptoms of the disease but who carried the gene for it were used to breed more animals who would suffer at the hands of experimenters. The video shows the dogs frantically pacing and gnawing in frustration on the cage bars.

Urge Texas A&M to Close Its Dog Laboratory

Numerous people—including patients with muscular dystrophy, scientists, and celebrities like Lily Tomlin, Richard Linklater, Ryan Tannehill, and Bill Maher—have teamed up with PETA to speak out against the experiments, and you can, too. Click the button below to urge Texas A&M to stop funding cruel, wasteful experiments on dogs:

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Dead Whale Ingested Plastic Bottles, Bags, Flip-Flops, and 115 Cups

A dead sperm whale who washed ashore in Indonesia is yet another sad indictment of our plastic-pollution problem. The whale had ingested 13 pounds of plastic waste, including two flip-flops, four plastic bottles, 25 bags, and 115 cups.

The whale had also ingested more than 7 pounds of plastic string, which may have been discarded fishing equipment. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “[M]ore than one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year due to ingestion of, and entanglement in marine debris.”

National Geographic found that most of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—the world’s largest collection of floating trash—is made up of “abandoned fishing gear,” with 46 percent of the garbage pile comprised of fishing nets. 

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that discarded monofilament fishing line is the number one killer of adult brown pelicans. In Florida alone, thousands of wading and diving birds have died after becoming entangled in abandoned fishing line, and many dolphins have died from asphyxiation after choking on fish who had tackle still attached to them.

Commercial fishers also frequently catch “nontarget” animals, including whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, rays, and others, and millions of animals are killed every year as “bycatch.”

To protect whales, dolphins, turtles, and other marine animals, please choose reusable cups, utensils, and bags, and try vegan alternatives to fish.

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FLPA/Jurgen & Christine Sohns/Getty Images

If you like the look of a parrot but prefer a more petite version, then a Parakeet or Budgie may be the right bird for you. They are true members of the parrot family, as evidenced by their markings and build. They also have the ability to speak, just as their larger relatives do. The main difference, aside from size, is that Parakeets cannot physically scream at the volume of a large parrot. For this reason, they are a good choice for bird owners that want a quieter pet. They can easily learn to talk but their petite voices make them difficult to hear. 

There are many Budgies’ needing homes, so think of adopting one from an adoption and education foundation or parrot rescue. 

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