Use of Cats in Animal Research: Is it Ethical?

Minoru Matthews
PETA, Journalist
June 19, 2018

1
 Table of Contents

Abstract 3

Background on cats and their historical, cultural, and social 4

significance

Arguments to support cats being used in scientific research 5-6

Arguments against cats being used in scientific research 6-7

Conclusion and Solution 7

References 8

Figures
Figure 1: 3

2
Abstract: The Problem: Stopping Animal Research
Today, we see cats as less as symbols but more like individual members of our family. As we
have become less comfortable with the hierarchical order, we expect cats (as well as dogs) to be
equal companions more than dependents. We are ready to recognize rights, independence, and
even equality for cats and other “lower animals” (Rogers, 189). This article will address both
arguments, one argument that examines the history of cats being used in animal research and the
reasons why certain people and groups support the use of cats in animal research and that of
PETA’s position which against the use of cats in animal research. Hopefully, after considering
the facts of both sides, you can come to conclusion that the solution of this issue is that use of
cats (as well as all animals) in research should be stopped because it is unethical, wasteful,
archaic, and unnecessary.

Figure 1: In the United States, cats are the most popular house pet, with about 90 million domesticated cats slinking

around 34 percent of U.S. homes. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-house-cats-158390681/

3
Background on Cats-Historical, Cultural and Social
Significance
When humans first evolved, they found themselves sharing the world with other animals that
engaged their attention as threats, as rivals, and as food. But along with those concerns, the early
humans were also impressed by the superior strength, speed, sensory awareness, and precise
coordination they saw in so many of the animals around them (Rogers, 2). Cats, along with other
animals, fascinate us because we recognize characteristics in them such as consciousness,
sensations, drives, and emotions like our own- yet at the same time they remain strongly alien to
us that we can never hope to fully understand and communicate with them. The relationship
became closer when people began to domesticate animals, starting with the dog about 14,000
years ago (Rogers, 4). Cats were domesticated around 12,000 years ago which is correlated when
the first agricultural societies began to flourish in the Middle East’s Fertile Crescent (Zax, 2007).
When humans were mainly hunters and gathers, dogs were a great help, and therefore
domesticated prior to cats. Cats, on the other hand, only became useful to people when we began
to settle down into cities, start formal agricultural practices, and store surplus crops. According
to Zax, “With grain stores came mice, and when the first wild cats wandered into town, the stage
was set for what the Science study authors call “one of the more successful ‘biological
experiments’ ever undertaken” (Zax, 2007). The cats were delighted by the abundance of prey in
the storehouses and the people were delighted by the pest control. Due to this, people think that
cats domesticated themselves. Cats invited themselves into homes, and over time, as people
favored cats with more warm and friendly traits, certain cats adapted to this new environment,
producing the dozens of breeds of house cats known today. In the United States, cats are the
most popular house pet, with 90 million domesticated cats part of around 34 percent of U.S.
homes (Zax, 2007).

4
Arguments to support cats being used in scientific research

Cats have been used in scientific research for centuries as experimental subjects in
laboratories. They are still and have always been widely available and cheap. According to
Rogers, “Dead cats are commonly used for dissection in schools and colleges and have been at
least since 1881, when St George Mivart published his textbook, The Cat: An Introduction to the
Study of Backboned Animals, Especially Mammals” (Rogers, 195). Live cats are now used
mainly for limited and specialized research. In fact, now mice, rats, birds and fish account for
95% of all research animals in most countries. Less than 1% of research studies involve cats,
dogs and primates (FAQS of Animal Research, speakingofresearch.com).
Despite the relatively small amount of research studies involving cats, they have played a large
role in scientific research and advancements. Some of the research on cats has benefited their
own species, leading to improvements in diagnostic and surgical techniques, treatments for
diabetes and arthritis, and development of vaccines (Rogers 196). Other research has helped the
well-being of their endangered wild relatives, whose problems are caused by infertility and
inbreeding. An example of this is that scientists in Washington National Zoo are using oocytes
from domestic cats to figure out the best way to preserve feline egg cells by freezing them in
liquid nitrogen, thaw them several years later, fertilize them in vitro and implant the embryos in
another cat’s uterus. That technique can be used to help other wild cat species reproduce. This
research does not harm its cat subjects at all because the investigators use ovaries obtained from
spay clinics (Rodrigues, 2015). This an example of just one of the arguments that proponents of
the use of cats (and other animals) in research make to support how animal research can be
morally justifiable; they argue that much biomedical research directly, or indirectly, contributes
to improving animal health such as veterinary medicine or environmental research.
Most research on cats however, is used to learn about human anatomy and the treatment of
human disease. Eight Nobel prizes in physiology have been awarded for research on cats that
explained the structure of the human nervous system (Suzdaltsev, 2015). David H. Hubel and
Torsten N. Wiesel won the prize in 1981 for mapping the complex pathways that transmit
messages from the light-sensitive cells in the retina to the primary visual cortex in the brain. This
knowledge has led to the discovery of a treatment for strabismus, cross-eye (Understanding
Animal Research-Cat).
Cats have also contributed to human medicine in other ways. Cats have been used as models to
study sensory systems and neuroscience (Cat, 2015). Since cats have good hearing, excellent
eye-sight and highly developed balance and spatial awareness and these aspects have always
interested scientists. Cats also have well developed cognitive abilities and memories, and have
often been used in laboratory tests of learning ability. The results of those tests with cats has led
to that being applied to human health educational practices.
In addition, cats have certain inherited and immunodeficiency diseases that are similar to
diseases in humans. In scientific research, cats can serve as useful models for investigating the
genetic origins, progress and treatment of these human diseases (Rogers, 198). Feline
immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is close enough to human AIDS that studies of the effects of FIV
on cats can clarify similar effects produced by AIDS in humans, and vaccines developed for FIV
may be adapted to HIV. In addition, because infected cats generally resist the symptoms of FIV
5
better than humans do those of HIV, studying the feline immune system could lead to discoveries
that would help the human immune system to control HIV (Cat, 2015).

Arguments against cats being used in scientific research

Unfortunately, however, not all feline suffering in the laboratory can be justified by a reasonable
expectation that it will help humans or even produce useful knowledge. An example of this
when investigators at Yale University in 1954 subjected kittens to repeated overheating that
causing repeated convulsions, after which they learned that overheating produced the same
symptoms as it had in human beings and in previous batches of kittens (Rogers, 198). In 1972,
some investigators at Brown University compressed the testicles of several male cats to find out
if the results would be the same as in men; and obviously the cats exhibited severe pain
(Suzdaltsev, 2015). Additionally, two scientists at Florida State University in 1972, who
recognized the cat’s reputation as a difficult behavioral subject but wanted to use them since they
found cats ‘extremely interesting . . . for sensory experiments’, proudly reported that they had
devised a technique that eliminated their feline subjects’ resistance; it consisted of food
deprivation and constant electric shocks (Rogers, 198). These examples of horrifying treatment
disguised as scientific research shows the nature of how cats have been abused and mistreated
throughout the years. This is just one of the many reasons why research with cats must be
stopped to prevent instances like these from occurring.
There are also many ethical reasons why cats should not be used in animal research and testing;
those include inability to consent, the experiments cause pain and suffering, the experiments can
be misleading and unreliable, and they are unnecessary.
First, one of the main ethical issues is the inability of cats to consent to their use in research and
testing (Rodrigues, 2015). While humans have the ability to make a choice about whether to
participate in research and testing, the same is not true for cats. One of the arguments used to
justify animal research is that cats are not rational, autonomous beings and that as long
experiments are humane, there is nothing unethical about using animals in research (Sapontzis,
2005). Sapontzis makes the case that “ humans should be viewed as guardians who understand
the animals' interests and since would want to protect those interests we should all be assigned to
protect the animals through making sure that research is “either harmless to the animals, intended
to be therapeutic for them, or provide them adequate compensation” (Sapontzis, 2005). Since a
primary reason for doing laboratory research on animals is that the research procedure is
detrimental to the interests of the research subjects, empowering humans as animal guardians
would drastically curtail laboratory animal research (Sapontzis, 2005).
Another reason why we should avoid cats and other animals in research is that many of the
experiments cause pain, suffering, distress and harm to cats. Animal experiments are wide-
ranging and involve: safety (toxicity) testing, disease/wound infection and healing, application of
skin/eye irritants, food/water/sleep deprivation, brain damage, surgical damage, induced organ
failure and genetic modification (Rodrigues, 2015).
Animal experiments can also be misleading and unreliable. Animal Aid - an animal rights group
writes “animal experiments are unreliable and can be dangerously misleading because animals’
bodies are different from ours, and they don’t get the same diseases as we do” (Animal Aid).
One example of this is that according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nine out of ten

6
experimental drugs fail in clinical studies because we can’t accurately predict how they will
behave in people based on animal experiments (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2006).
In summary, more than 18,000 cats are abused in U.S. laboratories every year- in addition to the
tens of thousands who are killed and sold to schools for cruel and crude classroom dissections
(PETA, “Cats in Laboratories”). We need to be aware of this practice and understand the cruelty
that goes behind closed doors in order to begin to take action on this issue.

Conclusion and Solution

In summary, while some animal research has contributed greatly to human and animal medical
advances, after examining both arguments and the history, we should realize that the solution to
this issue in that research using cats and other animals can now be considered archaic, cruel, and
unethical. Now with the advent of technology, we have new ways to conduct tests and do
research. Funding for biomedical research should now be redirected for the use of
epidemiological, clinical, in vitro, and computer-modeling studies instead of cruel and crude
experiments on animals. Some things you could do to help animals is to always buy cruelty free
products (companies that don’t use animals in testing when developing their products, educate
others about the facts and the horrors of animal experimentation, and speak up about classroom
dissections.
Lastly, a quote brilliantly written by an American philosopher Tom Regan who specialized in
animal right theory sums it up best: “Lab animals are not our tasters; we are not their kings.
Because these animals are treated routinely, systematically as if their value were reducible to
their usefulness to others, they are routinely, systematically treated with a lack of respect, and
thus are their rights routinely, systematically violated. This is just as true when they are used in
trivial, duplicative, unnecessary or unwise research as it is when they are used in studies that
hold out real promise of human benefits” (Regan, 1986).

7
References
1. Rogers, Katharine M. Cat. Reaktion Books, 2013.
2. “FAQ about Animal Research.” Speaking of Research, Speaking of Research, 8 Mar.
2018, speakingofresearch.com/facts/faq-about-animal-research/.
3. Suzdaltsev, Jules. “A Brief History of Scientific Experiments on Cats.” Vice, Vice, 11
Feb. 2015, www.vice.com/en_us/article/7b7n8z/a-brief-history-of-science-experiments-on-cats-
201.
4. “Cat | Understanding Animal Research.” Understanding Animal Research, Understanding
Animal Research, 14 Apr. 2015, www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/animals/10-
facts/cat/.
5. Rodrigues, Rowena. “The Use of Animals in Research.” Satori: Principles and
Approaches in Ethics Assessment, European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme ,
June 2015, satoriproject.eu/media/1.f-The-use-of-animals-in-research.pdf.
6. “Cat | Ari.info.” Ari.info, www.animalresearch.info/en/designing-research/research-
animals/cat/.
7. Sapontzis, S.F., “Animal Experimentation Is Unethical”, 2005.
http://teacherweb.com/TX/TomballMemorialHighSchool/Campese/Animal_Experimentation_Is
_Unethical.pdf
8. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “FDA Issues Advice to Make Earliest Stages of
Clinical Drug Development More Efficient,” FDA News Release 12 Jan. 2006.
9. Animal Aid, “Killing Animals and Humans”.
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/experiments/ALL/730/
10. “Cats in Laboratories.” PETA, www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-
experimentation/cats-laboratories/.
11. Zax, David. “A Brief History of House Cats.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution,
30 June 2007, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-house-cats-158390681/