Biomedical Research

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Like many other animal-related businesses universities, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, their suppliers, associated businesses and non-profit trade associations, are facing increasing scrutiny by the public who seemingly object to the use of animals in research, even though research benefits animals as well as humans.

To address these issues and concerns head on, the New Jersey Association of Biomedical Research recently hosted one of the most significant efforts to promote biomedical research advocacy, the “Biomedical Research Summit,” presented by Bristol-Myers Squibb, also sponsored by Covance, Charles River Laboratories, s-tune software, Inc., Marshall BioResources, and Allentown, Inc. 

Representatives from interested state and national advocacy and professional organizations who are involved in the lab animal research community, as well as representatives from research institutions, including pharmaceuticals, academia and CRSOs, to find common ground and come together on key issues.

Vice-Chair of the NJABR Board of Directors, Laura Conour, DVM, DACLAM facilitated the discussions during the two-day event, encouraging participants to

find ways to enhance the public’s understanding of the critical work undertaken by the biomedical research community and to provide a strong support network for all members in our community, regardless of geography.

The Summit was a huge success, bringing together not only the biomedical research community but also other animal-related sectors under similar attack by animal rights activists.

The following needs and gaps identified include:

  1. A centralized approach for advocacy of biomedical research;
  2. A compelling, consistent, proactive national communication plan;
  3. A comprehensive and effective education effort to address society’s negative perception and lack of understanding about animal research;
  4. There is a lack of an organized and cohesive advocacy effort;
  5. There is a lack of a constituency (a group that support or offers authority and representation) interconnecting with all stakeholders to create a larger network of interests to build and establish effective education efforts; and
  6. Resources are needed to effectuate these goals.

The future of biomedical research advocacy requires a coalescence of all those involved with the humane use of animals for human and animal benefits to educate the public about, not only the necessity of animal use, but also that the animals are treated humanely, and with the understanding that as science advances, the treatment of animals is always evolving to ensure that animals are treated humanely.

Others in the global biomedical research community have launched campaigns in the U.S. and overseas to increase transparency and public education about the special care animals receive in research as well as the incredible importance of their contribution to animal and human health.  For example, as previously discussed, Americans for Medical Progress launched a virtual website “Come See Our World,” where visitors learn about the important role animals play in medical progress.  

Also, the non-profit “Understanding Animal Research” launched a new online tool that allows anyone interested to visit four research facilities in the U.K., through digital video tours.  Participating facilities include the MRC Harwell Institute, The Pirbright Institute, the University of Bristol, and the University of Oxford. 

Understanding Animal Research explains:

why animals are used in medical and scientific research. We aim to achieve a broad understanding of the humane use of animals in medical, veterinary, scientific and environmental research in the UK. We are funded by our members who include universities, professional societies, industry and charities.

 In addition to the virtual lab tours, Understanding Animal Research hosts another website “Concordat on Openness on Animal Research” for “Universities, charities, commercial companies, research councils, umbrella bodies and learned societies [that] have all committed to help the public understand more about animal research.”

Stay tuned for more information about these important developments.

American for Medical Progress (AMP),[1] “a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting society’s investment in biomedical research,” just launched an important new educational tool for the public to see and understand the truth behind modern animal research.  “Come See Our World”  is a digital invitation into the world of “essential animal research,” that provides all those interested and concerned a behind-the-scenes glimpse into world of animal research, with a front seat to view the care that research animals receive.  Without this important research, medical advances in human and animal health would not be possible.

AMP invites you to “[j]oin us for a journey into our world of medical progress and discover the animals that help save lives,” including the following examples:

Mice have long been a model for human disease. Zebrafish provide insights into embryological development as well as human disease.  Dogs and Pigs were integral in the development of insulin treatments for diabetics.  Sheep have provided life-saving advancements for those with cardiovascular disease.  People with diseases like cancer and AIDS now have hope because of research with nonhuman primates. Our pets live long healthy lives thanks to vaccinations and many of the same treatments developed for humans.

From rodents, to primates, dogs and cats, farm animals, aquatic and other animals, this website provides more than pictures of well-cared for animals, it also educates the reader about what each animal contributes to the health of others-humans and animals alike.

I encourage you to visit the website and recognize the heroes these animals have been and continue to be.

[1] The author serves on the Board of Directors of AMP.

Japanese macaques, along with 11 other primate species were first listed as threatened on October 19, 1976 by FWS.[1]  However, by special rule, 50 C.F.R. §17.40(c)(2) captive members of these species were exempted from protections under the Endangered Species Act by FWS.  Now, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has petitioned FWS to correct what they describe as the unlawful deprivation of protection under the ESA.  See Petition to Include the Captive Members of the Species of Primates Enumerated in 50 C.F.R. §17.40(c) as Protected Members of their Respective Species Under the Endangered Species Act.

PETA based its petition, at least in part, on FWS’s relisting captive chimpanzees as endangered species, along with their previously listed wild counterparts.  Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing All Chimpanzees as Endangered Species, 80 Fed. Reg. 34500 (June 16, 2015).  .  In 2015 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a final rule to classify all chimpanzees, both wild and captive, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Until this change, only wild chimpanzees were listed as endangered while captive chimpanzees were listed as threatened.

“We are listing all chimpanzees, whether in the wild or in captivity, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We have determined that the Act does not allow for captive chimpanzees to be assigned separate legal status from their wild counterparts on the basis of their captive state, including through designation as a separate distinct population segment (DPS). It is also not possible to separate out captive chimpanzees for different legal status under the Act by other approaches. Therefore, we are eliminating the separate classification of chimpanzees held in captivity and listing the entire species, wherever found, as an endangered species under the Act.”

FWS will only issue permits for studies of chimpanzees “only for scientific purposes to benefit wild chimpanzees or to enhance the propagation or survival of chimpanzees, including habitat restoration and research on chimpanzees in the wild that contributes to improved management and recovery.”

If FWS adopts this position for the species currently listed as threatened, more than 316 Japanese macaques involved in research at various biomedical research facilities would be subject to the same fate as many chimpanzees, who unfortunately died when moved to “sanctuaries” since they were not permitted to remain under the care of knowledgeable and trained experts at research facilities.  See Dr. Collins please save our chimps, by Cindy Buckmaster.

Regardless of the outcome of this petition, these animals should remain in facilities where they can be properly cared for, and, if at all possible, the research they have been involved with should be completed so that it is not a loss.

[1] One of the original 12 primates was relisted as endangered in 1990.

I had the opportunity to present an “Animal Law Update” on October 21, 2016 at the New Jersey Association for Biomedical Research’s 23rd Annual IACUC Conference – the region’s premier training conference for professionals in laboratory animal research field.  Among this year’s 110 participants were key institution decision makers, Animal Care and Use Committee members, lab animal veterinarians, animal welfare compliance specialists and other lab animal research team members from the pharmaceutical industry, contract research organizations, academic research institutions, and government officials from USDA and NIH.

 

During my presentation I discussed the legal issues affecting animal-related industries, including the biomedical research community and analyzed activist activities that can help the research community predict, prepare for, and defend against such challenges.   I was also re-elected to the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Association for Biomedical Research during the annual meeting, held at the beginning of this conference.

 

Dr. William Stokes, Assistant Director, Animal Welfare Operations, USDA, APHIS, Animal Care provided an informative USDA Regulatory Update and Insights.  Dr. Stokes shared USDA Animal Care’s “5-year Strategic Plan” including the mission and vision of the agency, also available on its website:

New to the agency is the introduction of the term “critical noncompliant items” (“NCI’s) which includes all “direct noncompliant items” and certain “indirect noncompliant items.”  Dr. Stokes explained that this term was not really new, and had been used in practical effect, by the agency for a long time.

Dr. Stokes also provided important data from USDA’s inspections authorized by the Animal Welfare Act including:

  • There were over 10,000 unannounced inspections in FY16 of research facilities, breeders, dealers, exhibitors, transporters and intermediate handlers;
  • There were about 1350 inspections of the 1050 registered research facilities;
  • 76% of these inspections had no NCI’s;
  • Of the 561 NCI’s in research facilities, 38% of those were related to activities and conduct of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, and specifically related to the semi-annual reports that are required by the AWA.

Dr. Stokes  informed the attendees about the updated public search engine that serves as the database for USDA licensees and related inspection reports, known as the Animal Care Information System (ACIS3).  USDA  sent a bulletin on  09/22/2016 to stakeholders titled “New Terms Will Appear on USDA Inspection Reports.” As Dr. Stokes explained, there are two new terms that will appear on reports and in search results:

  • Focused inspections
  • Critical noncompliant items.

Dr. Stokes ended his presentation reminding all attendees that the goal of USDA and its licensees is to “optimize welfare.”

 

 

This is the time of year that nonprofit organizations hope for contributions from those who have the means and interest to support these organizations.

This year, I encourage you to consider supporting curiousSCIENCEwriters.

curiousSCIENCEwriters (cSw) is an innovative, independent steAm initiative that trains creative high school communicators to bring complex science to the general public through the power of story. Science and technology are advancing exponentially, yet fewer than 7% of American adults are scientifically literate. With growing medical, environmental and social issues facing us all, it is essential that the next generation of communicators be prepared to help people make sense of emerging science that affects their personal health and well-being, as well that of the world around them. Whether scientists, journalists or citizen scientists, they will require critical thinking and technical skills to fight science illiteracy that has reached historic levels.

How does it work?

“Each year, curiousSCIENCEwriters selects a group of high school students through a highly competitive application process to participate in an intensive extracurricular training program. A key element includes mentoring by scientists and science communications professionals through remote and onsite sessions. This collaborative process, which involves teams of student writers, editors, and graphic designers, results in credible, engaging science stories that the student staffers help disseminate through a variety of traditional and trending media outlets.”

Jayne Mackta, a colleague, supporter and friend, is the founder and creative director of curiousSCIENCEwriters.

Jayne has devoted her adult life to advocating for families affected by genetic disorders and promoting public understanding of biomedical research. Since her first job out of college with the Encyclopedia Americana where she reduced lengthy articles to single paragraphs, she has searched for the secret of saying more in fewer words. A fierce enemy of jargon, Jayne delights in coaching young editors in the art of deleting words that obscure meaning.

cSw, a program of States United for Biomedical Research (SUBR), relies exclusively on tax-deductible donations from citizens like you, concerned about the toll science illiteracy is taking on the health and welfare of our world.

Click here to read some of the fascinating stories written by cSw student staffers.

Consider this innovative and important program if you are donating this year. You can donate online by clicking here.

 

FDA issued a draft revised guidance for industry, “General Principles for Evaluating the Human Food Safety of New Animal Drugs Used In Food-Producing Animals” in July 2016 that “described the type of information that the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) recommends sponsors provide [the agency] to address the human food safety of new animal drugs used in food-producing animals.”

In addition to proving that drugs are safe and efficacious in the targeted livestock species, drug companies (sponsors) face increasing hurdles to prove that “food derived from treated animals is safe for human consumption.”

FDA has already begun implementing other changes to “the way medically important antibiotics have been used in animal agriculture for decades.” See FDA’s Guidance #213.

As reported on its website, FDA explains:

“[o]nce the changes are fully implemented, it will be illegal to use these medically important antibiotics for production purposes, and animal producers will need to obtain authorization from a licensed veterinarian to use them for prevention, control or treatment of a specifically identified disease.”

Food animal veterinarians and livestock farmers are concerned about their ability to treat animals with antibiotics appropriately when needed. In response,

“[t]he FDA acknowledges the important role medically important antimicrobials play in treating, controlling, and preventing disease in food-producing animals. However, the agency has been actively engaging veterinary organizations, animal producer organizations and other stakeholders to express our position that medically important antibiotics labeled for continuous or undefined durations of use is not consistent with judicious use principles, as outlined in previously-released guidance documents.”

In “General Principles for Evaluating the Human Food Safety of New Animal Drugs Used In Food-Producing Animals” FDA “provides, in one document, an overview of the overall process for the human food safety evaluation of new animal drugs used in food-producing animals, including:

  • Determining an acceptable daily intake (ADI);
  • Calculating safe concentrations;
  • Assignment of a tolerance;
  • Calculation of a withdrawal period and a milk discard time; and
  • Evaluation of carcinogenic compounds.”

In addition to analyzing the appropriate withdrawal times for meat, milk, and eggs, the agency evaluates the proposed drugs for their potential to create additional pressures on antibiotic resistance in humans.

However, FDA has identified drugs that may not have to undergo this analysis if it (and its metabolites and excipients) are not:

  • “regularly considered to have properties that would exert pressure towards the emergence or selection of bacteria of public health concern;
  • used to treat zoonotic gastroenteritis or other bacterial diseases in humans;
  • under development to treat bacterial diseases in humans; or
  • indicated for a bacterial disease in food-producing animals (i.e., indication is instead antifungal, antiprotozoal, anthelminthic, etc.).”

With the emergence of new methods of disease treatment and  prevention (using, for example, genetically immune livestock) hopefully veterinarians and farmers will not have to rely on antibiotics to treat animals and keep them healthy, since it will be increasingly difficult to obtain and retain the ability to use these drugs in livestock.

The intentional misrepresentation of facts is one of the most disturbing (if not illegal) tactics that animal rights organizations use to convince the public that individuals and businesses involved with the breeding, raising, and care of animals for companionship, biomedical research, conservation research, sports, entertainment, and food and fiber, is inhumane.

We have previously described the intentional misrepresentation that pet stores sell puppy mill puppies based on the false statement that all commercial breeders are puppy mills. Puppy mills are substandard, unlicensed large scale facilities where dogs are improperly cared for.  Pet stores buy from licensed USDA facilities, or small breeders who exceed the humane standards of care required by law, not from substandard breeding facilities.

Similar misrepresentations of facts are pervasive from animal rights organizations opposed to the use of animals in biomedical research, even when that research benefits animals.

The following purported quote from FDA is repeated by groups like PETA and the Beagle Freedom Fund to “prove” that research in animals does not provide valid scientific results that can lead to successful drug approvals for human use:

The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that 92 percent of drugs that test safe and effective in animals are failing in Phase I clinical trials.

The biomedical research community has attempted to explain why this statement is misleading by reviewing the original statement made by FDA.

For example, as posted on July 25, 2008 on Speaking of Research :

The statistic is from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), used to illustrate inefficiencies in drug development. However the actual statistic is much broader, it should be:

92% of drugs fail during human trials

The original quote was:

A new medicinal compound entering Phase 1 testing, often representing the culmination of upwards of a decade of preclinical screening and evaluation, is estimated to have only an 8 percent chance of reaching the market.

In another post on Speaking of Research on January 23, 2013, guest author Professor Robin Lovell-Badge further explained:

Those opposed to animal research often point out that most drugs that pass the legally required toxicology tests in animals go on to fail in human clinical trials. They then go on to suggest that this shows that animal research does not work, or that it is proof that animals are not accurate models for humans.

However, this is misleading without an understanding of the relevant context and the reasons for the animal safety tests.

Dr. Lovell-Badge goes onto explain that preclinical testing includes both animal testing an non-animal testing, all performed to prevent harm to humans during Phase 1 clinical trials in humans which has proven to protect humans from drugs found to be unsafe.

This topic is also the subject of a report published in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, “Use of animals for toxicology testing is necessary to ensure patient safety in pharmaceutical development,” by Raja Mangipudy, John Burkhardt and Vivek J. Kadambi. See Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2014 Nov;70(2):439-41. doi: 10.1016/j.yrtph.2014.07.014. Epub 2014 Jul 21.

I agree with the authors’ conclusion:

[W]e believe that for the foreseeable future, drug development will continue to depend upon nonclinical experimentation in animal models to provide data in hazard identification and characterization for healthy volunteers and patients. While offering great promise, alternative in vitro systems that can entirely recapitulate the complexity of higher organisms have yet to be designed. Development of engineered 3-dimensional organ systems will create new opportunities to conduct hypothesis-driven research into specific organ system toxicities or provide models for screening compound libraries for toxicity during the lead optimization process. As for all surrogate systems, they will evolve over time as the science improves, but will still falsely predict negatives for unique toxicities that result from complexities not replicated within the in vitro test system. Translation of our complex human biology into safe and effective treatments will continue to require the use of humane animal testing (Nature Medicine Editorial, 2013).

 

Guest blog by Shannon Stutler [1]originally published on March 29, 2016, 12:10 PM in the Baltimore Sun.

Republished with permission.

As the loving owner of a wonderful former shelter dog and as a veterinarian, I must stand in opposition to legislation that is now working its way through the Maryland General Assembly. House Bill 594 — Humane Adoption of Companion Animals Used in Research Act of 2016 [2]— would impose on Maryland’s research and teaching institutions onerous mandates that would do little to support animals and could have an unintended consequence: Increasing number of animals in Maryland’s shelters that might be euthanized rather than adopted.

The proposed bill would have the state regulate the way in which institutions handle the adoption of dogs and cats following completion of the research studies in which they are needed, and imposes state reporting requirements that are duplicative of information already reported under the U.S. Animal Welfare Act.

The adoption of post-study animals is already widely embraced by the research community. A large number of institutions already have customized, responsible and detailed adoption policies managed by veterinary specialists familiar with the special considerations and needs of retired research animals.

Having worked as a veterinarian in several research institutions in Maryland, I know first-hand of the loving attention that each animal gets by animal care technicians and veterinary teams. Wherever possible upon completion of a study, dedicated staff who have given the best of care to these animals also work hard to find them great homes, often networking with potential families and adoption groups. I personally have placed mice, rats, ferrets, a pig and two goats, and I am currently working with a research institution to develop a policy so that it might arrange for the post-study adoption of fish.

The bill now under consideration in Maryland is simply “feel good” legislation proposed by animal rights activists who seek the immediate end of all animal-based research. Similar legislation has been introduced in other states by the animal rights group Beagle Freedom Project, which targets research institutions to further its own agenda of ending all animal-based research. The dogs and cats obtained by Beagle Freedom Project have been used as props in inflammatory ads, videos and social media posts to falsely accuse scientists and to vilify biomedical research.

One of the leaders of the group is a convicted felon, having served several years in a federal prison for his role in a campaign of harassment and threats against scientists, research staff and their families, as well as those who have business relationships with research institutions. Therefore, several research institutions, concerned by the negative impact of the activists’ emotive campaign and for the safety of their staff, actually have been forced to shut down their own adoption programs, and thus animals that could otherwise have found homes have been euthanized.

Research dogs, depending on their age, can be more challenging to crate train and housebreak than other dogs. Extreme patience and consistency are required to ensure that these dogs, after their placement in private homes, do not later end up abandoned or in shelters.

Animal shelters are already overburdened. Animal adoption organizations in Maryland and throughout America struggle to find homes for the dogs and cats in their care. According to Save Maryland Pets, a coalition that includes the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), 45,000 cats and dogs die in Maryland shelters every year at a taxpayer cost of $8 million to $9 million, and the “96,000 pets entering Maryland animal shelters annually stand barely a 50 percent chance of survival.” Adding research animals to this population would surely increase the number of shelter animals that must be euthanized.

Dogs and cats together make up less than 0.6 percent of the animals needed for research in the United States. Without these animals, life-saving cures and treatments for our loved ones, both human and animal, would not be available today or in the future. We owe these cats and dogs the best of care during and after their research studies.

For the sake of the animals, I urge Maryland’s legislators to reject this unnecessary legislation.

Copyright © 2016, The Baltimore Sun

[1] Dr. Shannon Stutler, a veterinarian, is a diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine and of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine. She is also a Certified Professional IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) administrator. Having served as a veterinarian in the U.S. Army, she is now an independent veterinary consultant.

[2] This bill was not passed by the Maryland legislature but is likely to be re-introduced next session.

 

The humane standards of care of animals are constantly changing, as informed by scientific advances. Animal agriculture, in particular, has been evolving for decades. Livestock housing techniques, like other husbandry practices, have continuously evolved to protect animals from exposure to diseases, pests, environmental extremes, and from each other. Animal scientists and veterinarians continuously research methods, techniques and equipment to maximize animal comfort, while providing necessary protection.

Some recent advances exemplify the importance of continued research in disease protection and husbandry techniques that benefit animals and humans alike.

As reported in the National Hog Farmer, Merck Animal Health has been granted “licensure of its Prescription Product, RNA Particle vaccine platform from the USDA.”

Merck Animal Health described its innovative vaccine platform, and its significance to animal industries:

The RP technology platform is used to make vaccines for swine, bovine, equine, avian, companion animal and farmed aquaculture diseases. Pathogens are collected from a farm and specific genes are sequenced and synthetically inserted into the platform creating RNA particles, making safe, potent vaccines able to provide herd-specific protection. This system was instrumental in producing the first conditionally licensed vaccine to help control porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, a deadly virus that has killed more than eight million piglets since suddenly emerging in the United States in 2013. It also was utilized to produce a conditionally licensed vaccine against H5 avian influenza, which was subsequently awarded a USDA Stockpile in October.

Perhaps this platform could be used to develop effective vaccines to protect horses infected with the neurological form of Equine Herpes Virus which has increasingly spread throughout equine racing, show, and pleasure barns and facilities, resulting in prolonged quarantines, and unfortunately, illness and death.

Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation recently announced its intention to fund more than $1 million in projects, as reported by Matt Hegarty in the Daily Racing Form:

The 11 new projects include a study of the latency of equine herpesvirus in horse populations. A strain of equine herpesvirus, EHV-1, has wreaked havoc on racing circuits when the highly contagious disease has been detected at racetracks or training facilities, leading to quarantines and shipping restrictions.

Advances have not been limited to disease prevention.

Researchers have announced a probable solution to the culling of male chicks in the egg industry. Because males do not produce eggs, they are culled.

Now, as reported by ABC/Australia, scientists studying poultry diseases at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong “accidentally . . . made a breakthrough with biotechnology” discovering a way to identify male chick embryos before they hatched, making the culling of billions of male baby chicks unnecessary.

The scientists discovered they could inject an embryo with “a green fluorescent protein gene placed on the male chromosome” which could “ensure the males are never born, let alone culled.”

It is important to note that without biomedical research involving animals, these advances, which benefit animals, would not have been possible.

dogs and catsstatus of cats and dogsIn this interesting article David Grimm describes the changing public opinion about biomedical research that involves animals, observing:

as Americans have embraced pets as virtual children . . .they’ve soured on animal research. In 2001, only 29% of the public deemed animal testing ‘morally wrong;’ by 2013, it was 41%, and 54% of those aged 18 to 29.

Animal research is essential, not only to research, develop and insure medications and treatments are safe and efficacious for humans, but also for animals.  As the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology notes “[d]ogs remain critical in understanding the fundamental processes of life and in developing treatments for injury and disease.”

 

dog research

The emergence of a new strain of canine influenza virus which sickened many and killed some dogs in and around Chicago earlier this year, can be controlled with a newly USDA conditionally approved vaccine, that could only have advanced this far in the approval process because it has been tested on animals.

As noted by the AVMA:

H3N2 canine influenza appeared limited to Korea, China and Thailand until March 2015, when an outbreak that started in the Chicago area was determined to be due to an H3N2 strain.

The H3N8 canine influenza virus represents a very rare event in adaptive evolution; the entire genome of the H3N8 equine influenza virus was transferred to dogs, and the virus adapted to the canine species to emerge as a new canine-specific virus.

If you are interested in giving back to some of these animals who have been so critical in the advancement of biomedical research, consider providing a home to those “heroes” through Homes for Animal Heroes, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the research community who has been rehoming research animals for more than 40 years.

As they explain:

Animal-based research is still critical for saving and improving human and animal lives, and the truth is that dogs, and other animals, are still a necessary part of this process.

They help us understand and treat a variety of cancers, along with numerous cardiovascular, metabolic, joint, skeletal, muscular, neurologic, and even cognitive disorders. Researchers continue to explore and develop non-animal alternatives to meet our demands for cures, and we support this quest wholeheartedly! In the meantime, animals are still required for biomedical progress and we are grateful for the improved health and well-being that we and our pets continue to enjoy as a result of their contributions.

These dogs are heroes to countless people and animals. We, literally, owe them our lives. Many of them need homes when their work is done.

If you are looking for a new pet, or want to contribute to a notable cause, now is the time to support an animal hero.