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last mo.

St. Joseph’s Health Care Defends Canine Cardiac Imaging Research as Activists Memorialize Dogs

Planning to address alleged inaccuracies with the media, the hospital maintains its canine imaging protocols adhere to rigorous ethical oversight.

Dog surgery and imaging records from Lawson Research Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital obtained by the  Investigative Journalism Bureau.
Photos of puppies in cages staff say were taken at Lawson Research Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ont. The dogs are induced with heart attacks lasting up to three hours, and then killed.
A photo taken by staff shows one of the dogs post-operation at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
The Lawson Research Institute is located on the sixth floor of St. Joseph’s Hospital in London, Ont. The hospital says the dogs being tested are treated ethically in the service of medical advancement that benefits the public.

Overview

  • St. Joseph’s Health Care London says its Lawson Research Institute experiments follow rigorous policies, legally mandated oversight and the internationally recognized 3Rs framework to study post-heart attack healing in dogs.
  • Two whistleblowers report that dogs undergo three-hour induced heart attacks before euthanasia and heart retrieval, with distress behaviors observed during recovery.
  • Animal Justice held a vigil at St. Joseph’s Hospital to honor dogs killed in experiments and press for release and rehoming of surviving animals.
  • Critics including the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods argue that human imaging alternatives make canine experiments unnecessary and call for accelerated adoption of non-animal research methods.
  • St. Joseph’s asserts that canine studies are essential for advancing non-invasive cardiac imaging techniques critical for diagnosing and treating heart attack and heart failure patients.