O.k. here's what I want to know:
I volunteer at an animal shelter, and when my boss was showing me around the place last week, she showed me the freezers where they put the deceased animals. When she explained them to me, she called them the "cadaver boxes". What I wanted to know is if shelters send the animals they put to sleep to colleges and science labs where the poor things contribute to some greater good. The reason I'm asking this is because I forget to ask the people that work up there while I'm volunteering during the day, and then I get home and remember my question, obviously too late to ask anyone. I thought maybe someone on here would be able to tell me what I wanted to know. Sorry it's such a morbid subject, but I would feel a little better if I knew for sure that there was some sort of good coming from the mindless killing of perfectly healthy dogs and cats. (Doesn't "cadaver" imply the use of a body for scientific research?). Thanks.
2007-07-05 12:11:42 · 8 answers · asked by Pink_lemur 6 in Pets ➔ Dogs
By the way, there's absolutely nothing I can do about the euthannizations. I cry every time, but I'm just a volunteer, so all I can do is try to get people to adopt animals before it happens.
2007-07-05 12:13:28 · update #1
Sometimes they are sent for dissection. Most of the time they go to the renderers. They are used for anything from soap and cosmetics to fertilizer.
2007-07-05 16:09:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some shelters do sell the cadavers to labs and schools but many simply take them to the land fill. A cadaver is simply a dead body. It doesn't mean they are necessarily used for research.
I think you are very brave and kind to volunteer at a shelter. It must be very difficult to see a nice dog put down just because no one wants it. I am honestly not sure I could do what you do so my hat is off to you and the thousands of other great people who volunteer everyday to deal with the mess left behind by those too lazy to spay or neuter their pets. "Above All Else, Do No Harm"
2007-07-05 19:26:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
All shelters have diferent protocols. The one I used to be kennel manager for started out sending the animals to a rendering plant. Not long ago, they got funding to build a cremetorium, and now they use thet not only to dispose of the bodies generated by the euthanization at the shelter, but to cremete people's pets so they can keep the ashes in memorial urns and whatnot for a smaller fee than many vets charge. At least they can use it to raise funds for the homless pets.
However, whenI was in college for vet tech training, we did disect cats provided by a company that got them from shelters. It was amazing some of the diseases and maladies these animals were suffering from before they were euthanized, and it was a valuable learning experience, albeit a sad one.
2007-07-05 19:26:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
you're right... that's what the cadavers are used for. they are prognosed and sent to universities so that students can learn what a dog/cat/whatever looks like when infected with various diseases and how to spot the signs both before and during an internal examination. so, rest assured, the cadavers are going to good use. the better to help the other, living animals.
2007-07-05 19:19:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Every animal shelter is different. I researched this at one time, and what I found out is very little of the bodies go to research. Sadly most of them either get cremated, or get taken away to be ground up for meal (I know..I'm so sorry). It sickened me then, and it sickens me now.
Personally, I try not to think about it, and advocate adoption whenever I can.
2007-07-05 19:19:50 · answer #5 · answered by Audrey A 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. Animals for dissection are bred specifically for research. Sucks, but true. Animals euthanized in shelters and veterinary offices are generally cremated, or in the case of veterinary offices, sometimes returned to the owners for burial, if that's what the owner wants. And 'cadaver' only applies to human remains, so your supervisor was mistaken using that terminology.
2007-07-05 19:23:54 · answer #6 · answered by alabasterlamb 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes, I believe that they donate the bodies to science. That's probably better than just burying them. But it's sad. Cadaver does mean dead bodies donated to research.
2007-07-05 19:18:34 · answer #7 · answered by pplperson 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some shelters do, some don't - some are required by law to do so, some are forbidden by law from doing so.
2007-07-05 19:20:20 · answer #8 · answered by ragapple 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋