Local Med School Experimenting on Dogs

              Journal May 7, 1975 Local Med School Experimenting on Dogs
By BONNIE DAVIS
and
ANN DEMENT
Journal Staff Writers
Several hundred animals (dogs, cats,
mice, rats and cattle) are being housed at
the old Stonewall Nike Missile Base and
being used for medical research and ex-perimentation
by Louisiana State
University School of Medicine in
Shreveport.
Dr. Kercnit Gaar, head of the depart-ment
of physiology, said the Stonewall
facility has been in operation since 1968.
Students from the Shreveport medical
school utilize the animals for experimen-tation
and learning, he said. "There are
seven full-time employes at the Stonewall
facility and eight or 10 part-time main-tenance
people, Dr. Gaar said.
The facility is a 36-acre, two-site
operation with the old command post
buildings utilized for housing the animals,
"We have a veterinarian who keeps a
close watch on the care of the animals. -
Medical students perform their experi-ments
at Stonewall or they bring the
animals to the Linwood medical school
site and VA Hospital in Shreveport," be
said.
"MOST OF THE dogs we have are
stray mongrels. However, occasionally
we do have dogs with definite pedigrees,
such as Greyhounds, Labrador Retrievers
and German Shepherds," said Gaar.
Gaar said that last summer the de-partment
of surgery performed open-heart
surgery on cattle at Stonewall and
there is presently a study being done on
alcoholism, utilizing dogs. "Neurological
studies have been made utilizing
opossum, and effects on the central
nervous system," he said.
The medical school does not accept
animals donated from individuals;
however, "we will accept animals from
pounds," Gaar said. When asked what
pounds he received animals from, he
said, "We get them from pounds in
general. It would be better if I did not say
exactly where we got them. It is
customary for the medical school to pay
$3 for dogs and nothing for cats."
Daniel Botelho, administrator of the
Caddo - Shreveport Rabies Control Center
and dog pound, said the Shreveport dog
pound will neither sell nor donate animals
to any medical school. He said this has
been a firm policy of the local health unit.
SELLING OR donating to medical
schools is "bad policy," said Botelho.
"This is my personal opinion . . . you
leave yourself wide open for a lot of
headaches."
William Connella of the Bossier Rabies
Control Center said the dog pound was
not selling dogs to the medical school,
"but if somebody comes in and wants to
donate a dog, we'll donate it."
He said information regarding "dona-tions"
would have to be obtained from
Dr. L. V. Landry, head of the Bossier
Health Unit. The Journal was unable to
contact Dr. Landry this morning.
A spokesman at the Mansfield dog
pound — the closest pound to the
Stonewall facility — said they were
neither selling nor donating animals to
the medical school.
LIVESTOCK USED in the research
projects are obtained from auctions, ac-cording
to DrGaar
Dr. Gaar said mice and rats are
purchased from private venders.
"We do not accept animals that have
been caught in traps or from private
citizens. The risk of rabies is too great to
secure animals from this source. When
animals go to pounds, they are properly
immunized before they come to us," said
Dr. Gaar.
A local veterinarian said medical
schools often obtain animals from dog
pounds some distance from them, He said
he did not know if this was the ease with
the local medical school.
HE SAID HE recalls the Houston dog
pounds supplied dogs to the veterinarian
college he attended.
The vet said there are people who deal
in the sale of dogs to medical schools —
mat they purchase the animals from dog
pounds and in turn sell to medical
schools. Again, he said, he did not know
what the local situation is. "I know
they're getting animals, but I haven't
heard where they're coming from," he
said.
Mrs. Jeanette Soloman, who manages
the Humane Society Animal Shelter, ex-pressed
strong opposition to the use of
dogs and cats by medical schools. She
said that to her knowledge the animal
shelter has never sold nor given an
animal to a medical school.
"I would not subject as animal to
mat," she declared. "I am opposed to it
— very much opposed." She added mat
she was distressed to learn that the
Bossier Health Unit was donating
animals to the medical school.