Researchers at the University of Missouri sedated the beagles, injured the dogs’ corneas and then used an innovative acid to see if it rushed the therapeutic process of corneal ulcers.
An organization that attempts to end animal experimentation is condemning a group of university researchers for euthanizing young Beagles after the end of the study.
The Beagle Freedom Project mentioned that the dogs shouldn’t have been euthanized because they would have been able to find homes for the animals.
Kevin Chase, the vice president of the animal rescue organization, called attention to the 2016 research after first suing university scientists for charging his group $82,000 to create copies of research plans.
Beagle Freedom Project mentioned that the study was worthless since researchers themselves confessed that the sample size was too little to identify a clinically meaningful difference in medicinal rates.
The study details how the beagles’ left eyes were deliberately damaged and then treated with various chemical extracts to explain the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid, generally found in topical skin medications, in treating corneal lesions.
However, the healing process wasn’t quicker after administering the 0.2 percent hyaluronic acid solution in the three dogs in group A, named the experimental group, than the other three dogs in group B which was considered the control group. The seventh dog was administered the conventional treatment for corneal injuries, including medications that dilate and paralyze the eyes and antibiotic.
According to the research the dogs which were al females of age between nine and 12 months, were placed under anesthesia before the corneal-wounding procedure. The study lasted 96 hours during which the dogs experienced observations after the first six hours and later every 12 hours.
Despite the failure of the research, the lead author said that it was still helpful in treating eye lesions in dogs and other animals.
Kevin Chase’s initial response to the study was that it was frightful and absurd.
Most of the time, lab animals are euthanized because the laboratories do not possess the resources, space or time for them after the studies.
Additionally, labs don’t want to attract public attention to the fact that they are involved in animal research, which is questionable.
Unfortunately, beagles represent around 96 percent of the dogs utilized by 383 various laboratories in the U.S.
Image source: Flickr