In Michigan shelter animals are allowed to be bought for research. The animals are then euthanized.
Michigan House Bill 4663 is referred to as "Koda's Law" because a dog named Koda was surrendered by his family to a shelter in Michigan, where they believed he would have a chance at finding a forever home. Instead, he was sold for research to a USDA Class B Dealer and resold to the University of Michigan. Koda was used in the University's Advanced Trauma Life Support class before being euthanized.
The bottom line here is that a vital trust is being broken. People who surrender their animals, or even animals they find as strays, bring them to shelters because they believe the animals will be cared for and adopted into loving homes. The greater trust being violated is that of the animals themselves. They depend on humans for protection and the very people they grow to trust are turning them over to be used and killed. This is horribly wrong.
Koda's Law will not prohibit legitimate medical research. It will merely prevent shelter animals from being bought and sold for research purposes, giving the people who need to give up their pets the peace of mind that the animal will have a second chance, and giving the pets the opportunity to finding a loving home.
Please join me in signing this petition & pass it on to as many people as you can.
So, if this law were passed, where would companies undertaking legitimate medical research get animals to use as subjects?
ReplyDeleteAs the petition says, there are people who breed dogs and cats for medical research. That option would still be available to researchers, it would just eliminate Class B dealers from procuring shelter animals to resell to labs and such. Unfortunate, in my opinion, but true.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, give the shelter animals a break. They have been through enough. At least give them a chance to find a good home.
ReplyDeletePeople should spay/nueter their pets to reduce the number of pets going into shelters. A pet is sopposed to be for life.
Amen, Anonymous! I hope you signed the petition!
ReplyDelete