01/24/2024
I had the privilege this morning to testify to the Michigan State House of Representatives in support of House Bill 4849, known as "Queenie's Law", designed to eliminate and prevent painful research projects on dogs in publicly funded institutions in Michigan. This dog was involved in tortuous experiments at Wayne State University.
I am grateful for the opportunity.
My testimony follows:
Testimony to MI House of Representatives – 1-24-2024
Good morning. I am Dr. Robin Downing from The Downing Center for Animal Pain Management in Windsor, CO. I am both a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a Doctor of Bioethics. I am an internationally respected animal pain management expert. I was a founder of the International Academy of Veterinary Pain Management and served as that organization’s second President. I am an affiliate faculty at the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine in the anaesthesia and pain management department. I led the task force that created the first set of pain management guidelines for dogs and cats in veterinary medicine, and I served as both a pain expert and bioethicist on the task force that created the first palliative and end-of-life care guidelines for cats and dogs.
I am here to speak in support of House Bill 4849. In these comments, I do not represent any particular organizations with which I am often aligned or affiliated.
I would like to frame my remarks with this quote from the physician humanitarian, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who wrote the following in the early 1900’s about people who experiment on animals.
Schweitzer wrote: “It is their duty (the investigators) to ponder in every case whether it is really and truly necessary thus to sacrifice an animal for humanity. They ought to be filled with anxious care to alleviate as much as possible the pain they cause.”
Dogs are NOT just another piece of laboratory equipment. They are sentient, conscious beings who form multiple complex relationships, they are highly intelligent, and they lead rich emotional lives, unless they are deprived of the opportunity.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine identifies that despite more than 30 years of these torturous experiments, there have been no human health improvements derived from them. The next logical question is, “Were all those dog deaths meaningful in any way?” Despite the overlap between human and veterinary medicine, dogs are NOT small humans.
Queenie was subjected to VERY invasive surgeries in service of this experimental protocol including cables dragged under her skin to make them stick out of the skin on her back in the area between her shoulder blades.
Imagine having cables dragged under your skin, left there, and then being asked to run on a treadmill. This is not some sort of “squishy” anthropomorphizing - - anatomy is anatomy, and disrupting that anatomy will have the same impact whether you are a dog or a human. I remain VERY skeptical of the investigator’s comments about how well these dogs performed.
As for the trauma and pain associated with these surgeries, there was a woefully inadequate response to the level of pain induced. After the second surgery, Queenie was immobilized by her pain, attempting to bite the handler who tried to force her to stand. In any veterinary practice, a dog experiencing chest and abdominal surgeries would have the benefit of several days of continuous intravenous delivery of potent pain medication. Poor Queenie received nothing of the sort.
Because animals live in the immediate moment, unable to project or speculate into the future, we understand that while they do not anticipate or fear their own death, they absolutely can and do anticipate and fear pain.
Queenie’s pain was both physical and emotional. The fear anxiety and stress that Queenie experienced throughout her ordeal was physically reflected by her unrelenting diarrhea. Emotional states have extensive influence on the bodily health of animals, which in this situation can taint the experimental data, rendering it useless.
One final consideration. All that Queenie was subjected to and experienced was for naught. The notes reveal problems with the implanted devices, including one cable that broke off and retracted into her body. Let us circle back to Schweitzer and ask if it was really necessary for Queenie to be tortured and killed for humanity? Where was the benefit to humans? Where was the benefit to Queenie?
Respectfully, I submit there was no benefit to any of this, and we as humans, who have complete control in this situation, have a moral and ethical obligation to prevent circumstances like this in the future. That is what this bill is designed to do.
Thank you.
