WAR ON DISEASE

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 113, 16 May 1927, Page 2

WAR ON DISEASE

■ -4 - CASE FOR VIVISECTION THE USE OF DOGS MEDICAL ATTITUDE^ (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 6th April, The suggested introduction of the Dogs' Protection Bill, which has for its purpose the restriction- of the use-of ogs for research experiments, is the cause of publicity being given to a matter which at other times one hears' j '.f* Several correspondents case fnr e th T S ” l ave taken *P the and Mr wi° gS c Slr Charle * ana Mr. Waller Spencer, two eminent Jrivine n the hay ® . writ . ten a joint letter gmng the Vivisectionists ’ point of „J^ ise n tioll bas been the' means by which all essential advances have been! W The surgery of the brain; tesfines- m r^° f the Btomacb and tesnnes, (3) the surgery 0 f the **ll “"’i 4) - the S , U v? ery ° f the kidney; (5; transfusion of blood; (6) the treatment of diphtheria and other lethal diseases by anti-toxins; (7) the eontrol "s“?# (8) the treatment of rabies; and-(9) the intimate pathology of cancer. In most of these example the necessary animal for the experiment was the dog. ** ' I"knowledge we posceaa,” w . riters K° on to say, “the intimate pathology of, and the specific treat- “, en . t . for > the horrible diseases hydrotetanus, anthrax, syphilis, and the disease due to snakebite and its remedy, have been won by workers in foreign laboratories. We 'have had to derive all the benefits at second-hand because our laws hamper 'research. We exhibit the condition of those parasitic individuals who have not the mental stimulus which work affords. The threat of the criminal law hampers all research in England. • POISON OASES. . “All Governments, including our own are investigating the lethal effects of various poison gases, by which it is believed hundreds of thousands o'f mankind will be destroyed in the next war Such experiments can only be coml pleted by the exposure of living animals to these gases, and we may, ask— Is our,Government to be rendered impotent by the Dogs’ Protection Bill in its effort to protect its nationals f. It was Sir Sharpey.Schafer’s experiments on dogs during the' Great War that made possible the manufacture of practical respirators for the protection of our men at the front from- poison gas.' Again, the danger of • chloroform administration was discovered by experiments on dogs, for in them it was found, when the dog was under chloroform, that an influence passed up the vagus nerve which arrested the aetion of the respiratory centre. It is a strange topsy-turvey mind that would vote for research in every department of human activity except that department whose object .is the' saving of human life. V. HAMPERING research. "‘‘Am the professors' of surgery in Britain to be prevented from adding to the .stock of surgical knowledge because some people falsely say they aro cruel, or because others care more for dogs than for children! The operating surgeon of the present day works in dependence on the facts gleaned by the self-sacrifice and persistent personal effort of the experimenters on. living animals. Many of these experiments have; been performed .on dogs. In every surgical clinic-mankind -is being saved from death a.nd suffering by knowledge ’ gained" by Experiments on. dogs. . .The. .wonderful advances made through the method of experiment, combined with the dicoveries of anaesthesia and asepsis, aE almost past belief. When we .were students relatively few operations except those of were attempted. Strangulated hernia was operated on only as a last resort,, intussus-ception was treated with the kitchen bellows, intestinal and gastro-intestinal anastomoses were unknown; patients with brain abscess and brain tumour, and with renal and biliary calculi were left to their fate, no operations were done on the heart and spleen, and 'operations for appendix inflammations were not attempted. This striking contrast between that which is and.that which was is brought to our minds by the Doga* Protection Bill, which, if passed, will hamper research and tend seriously, in. future to retard the progress of British surgery.’’ A letter covering two columns of “The* Times’’ is concluded by a description of what really -takes place. “We say as a profession, and with' a full sense of responsibility, that with---out experimentation with animals, the medical profession cannot carry on.” This declaration was made by Lord. Dawson of Penn at a conference called by the British Medical Association to protest against further restrictions. “Is not the alleviation of pain and distress, and suffering, to be witnessed, day by day and hour by hour in our hospitals sufficient reason for the use of animals for experimentation! At the end of years of investigation, in which dogs, were used, came the discovery of insulin, with the result that diabetes came under control and thousands of liVes have been, and are being, saved. “ Are the public prepared to say that this must be stopped! What about diseases of the spleen, lockjaw,' diphtheria, the causes of jaundice! • These have all been dealt with by experiments on animals. Let it be brought home to. the public that the dangers of childbirth of those near and dear to them have been diminished by a new drug-which is tested on animals. Are these drugs to be tested on human beings or on animals!” 85, Fleet street.