ABSTRACT
Dogs have a long history of use in research and, like so many other animals, have contributed enormously to the health and welfare of both humans and animals. Dating back to the 1600s, research conducted by William Harvey on cardiac movement and later research by Louis Pasteur and Anton Pavlov included the use of dogs. Early factors accounting for their use included their gentle nature as a companion animal, size, availability, ease of care, and anatomical and physiological similarities to man. Contemporary use of dogs has evolved based on the discovery of dogs demonstrating congenital, spontaneous, or inducible models of human diseases. Beagles are the primary breed of dog used for research, and random-source dogs used in research are most commonly mongrels or larger breeds such as German shepherds and Labrador retrievers.1,2 The use of dogs in research has steadily declined from a peak of 211,104 in 1979 to 64,932 in 2004 (U.S. Department of Agriculture).3
