KC Funds Frame Dog Experiments Study

The Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments, (Frame) has received a grant of £10,000 from The Kennel Club Charitable Trust, (TKCCT) which will be used to support a study into the use of dogs in laboratories, with a view, says the Trust, to putting an end to this practice.

The grant will assist with the cost of running an 18 month project to undertake a comprehensive study into the laboratory use of dogs, and the development of a scientifically justified strategy for phasing out their use in biomedical research and testing.

TKCCT cites 5,300 dogs in laboratories in the UK (in 2005), a total of over 21,000 across the EU as a whole, and 65,000 in the US.

Announcing the grant, Mike Townsend, Chairman, TKCCT, said:

"Every year, thousands of dogs across the world are used in laboratories for a variety of purposes. The Trust is pleased to be able to support this important study into the reasons behind this, and to look at alternative means of obtaining the same vital scientific results without needing to use dogs at all. We hope that one day this kind of testing will become a thing of the past."

The proposed Frame study will involve a combination of assessing the need for dogs in different areas of research and testing. The project will involve a critical analysis of the published literature on dog use and background information concerning the biochemistry, anatomy and physiology of the dog relevant to its use as a model for human disease and risk assessment.

Frame and the Kennel Club have worked together on a number of specific issues in the past, particularly with regard to the animal welfare implications of the new EU chemicals testing legislation REACH.

Founded in 1969, Frame specialises in research into developing alternatives to animal experiments. The charity has just given its website has just been revamped, made more readily searchable with new and updated information. Frame's peer-reviewed scientific journal, ATLA, (Alternatives to Laboratory Animals) has now been made available electronically.