Vigil for dogs killed in research to be held Saturday at St. Joseph's
London's St. Joseph’s Hospital will be the site of a vigil Saturday for dogs and other animals killed in medical experiments shrouded in secrecy, organizers say.
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London’s St. Joseph’s Hospital will be the site of a vigil Saturday for dogs and other animals killed in medical experiments shrouded in secrecy, organizers say.
Organized by national animal advocacy group Animal Justice, the vigil at noon will include a memorial space with a banner, photos of some of the animals that have been killed and flowers.
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“This vigil is not just a moment of remembrance, it’s a call for change,” Animal Justice said on a Facebook page. “We will stand in solidarity, share words, and reflect with a moment of silence.”
A story published Thursday in the National Post and other Postmedia papers, including the London Free Press, detailed how Lawson Research Institute – the research arm of St. Joseph’s Health Care London – is secretly testing heart attack recovery in humans using dogs and puppies on its sixth floor.
Researchers induce three-hour-long heart attacks in the animals before euthanizing them and removing their hearts for further study, two current staff members say.
Animal Justice also posted a story and photos about the research at Lawson Research Institute on its website Thursday.
The dogs have shown “troubling repetitive behaviours” such as pacing, tail sucking and repeatedly dunking their faces in water, the story said.
The beagles are heard whimpering and screaming in pain during recovery, Animal Justice said.
“Animal care staff are emotionally devastated when animals they bond with are killed,” the story said.
Alanna Devine, director of campaigns for Animal Justice, said Thursday the organization has “been working hard to find loving homes for the dogs and pigs at St. Joseph’s.
“We have been in communication with the hospital asking they release the dogs and pigs for rehoming since whistleblowers reached out to us a couple of months ago,” she said.
Lori Cohen, founder and executive director of the Beagle Alliance based near Winnipeg, has rescued more than 100 beagles from research facilities and is working with Animal Justice.
She said 93 per cent of dogs used in research are beagles because they are “sweet and docile and don’t bite.
“And also they are a manageable size – so facilities can use more of them at a given time which saves space and money,” she said.
In Canada 16,000 beagles are used in research facilities each year and most are euthanized, Cohen said.
St. Joseph’s Health Care London defended the experiments saying they were “regulated and guided by rigorous policies and procedures for high-quality animal care.”
The canine experiments are done “to accurately image post-heart attack injury and healing that we cannot yet decipher using other models,” St. Joseph’s said in the statement.
The story published by Postmedia was written by two reporters with the Investigative Journalism Bureau at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Postmedia supports the collaborative investigative newsroom that partners with academics, researchers and journalists.
The vigil will take place outside the hospital at 268 Grosvenor St.
HRivers@postmedia.com
@HeatheratLFP
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