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Importance of Random Source Animals to Pet Health

Keeping pets healthy involves finding ways to prevent, treat, and cure conditions that occur throughout the lifetime of an animal. Some of this research can be done in a clinical setting where owners bring their animals to receive veterinary care. These animals may have diseases for which there is no cure, and experimental treatment is the only hope. Sometimes it is necessary to study a health problem in one group of animals in order to help other animals. This may involve animals that were bred and raised for research.

Research breeders (licensed by the USDA as Class A dealers) mainly sell young animals from small breeds that are raised in a controlled environment. These purpose bred animals are suitable for some kinds of research but not for others. In some cases, it is necessary to obtain non-purpose bred or random source animals in order to study conditions that occur with advancing age or various diseases, allergens, and parasites. Cats and dogs with random source traits such as a variety of ages, breeds and health conditions are also needed for the development of animal health drugs and for the training of veterinarians. Animals with naturally-occurring diseases or parasitic infections play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and efficacy of drugs to treat companion animal diseases. For example the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has issued guidance stating that in some cases it is preferable to work with animals naturally infected with parasites when testing the effectiveness of drugs intended to eliminate these organisms.

Apart from regulatory guidance, common sense dictates the need to test therapies in animals with traits as similar as possible to those of the target population. In 2006 The Washington Post reported an example of what can go wrong when this does not happen: Some 350 dogs with arthritis died after being treated with a Vioxx-like drug called Deramaxx. The arthritic dogs were elderly and had other health problems, but the drug had only been tested in young, healthy animals. Researchers’ access to older dogs and cats from varied genetic backgrounds and naturally-occurring diseases is important to make certain that veterinary medications are safe.

The American Veterinary Medical Association believes that “there is ample justification for prudent and humane use of random-source dogs and cats in research” because “the carefully controlled use of random-source dogs and cats contributes greatly to improving the health and welfare of both animals and human beings.”

Case Study: Deramaxx

Deramaxx was developed to treat arthritis in older dogs, but it was only tested on young animals. Since its release on the market, the FDA has documented thousands of cases of death or serious illness to people's pets. These risks might have been averted if the medication was tested in a population similar to the pets it was intended to treat.

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Back to Animal Research Topics: Random Source Animals