It is common knowledge that human bodies may be donated to medical science for study after death, but most pet owners do not know that they have a similar choice for their pets.
Dr. Martin Stephens, Vice President of Animal Research Issues at The Humane Society of the United States in Gaithersburg, Maryland, reminds animal owners that Educational Memorial Programs offer the opportunity to support the training of future veterinarians and contribute to the well-being of other animals.
"The decision to donate a cherished pet's body to a local veterinary school is a personal one, as is the related decision over whether to donate one's own body or organs to medical science," Stephens said. "People who are uncomfortable about donating their pet's body, even after they have looked into the matter and had their questions answered, should probably not move forward."
Pet owner Flo Selfman, Public Relations Consultant in Los Angeles, remembers the path that led her to make the decision of donating her cat's body to veterinary science.
"I adopted Freddie from Pet Pride shelter in West Los Angeles. He was about two years old. He was a perfect, wonderful cat, one of those 'soul mate' animals. He was a short-haired tabby with tiger markings on his face and four white paws on long legs," Selfman said. "One Saturday in July 1997, I had been out all day. When I returned about 4:30, I heard an ungodly moaning from my bedroom closet. It was Freddie, and I had no idea what was wrong with him. I rushed him to the emergency vet. They kept him overnight, rehydrated him, x-rayed him, and recommended that I have ultra-sound."
An ultrasound revealed diffused liver cancer and Selfman faced choices.
"I took him to a cancer specialist -- a wonderful woman named Dr. Sue Downing, now at ACC & IM in Culver City. She did not recommend chemotherapy (which I could not have afforded), so I took Freddie to a holistic vet, Dr. Marc Bittan, in West Los Angeles. He recommended various things, including milk thistle, which Freddie could not keep down so I couldn't give it to him; shark cartilage, which I could not afford; and some other stuff including Pepcid. Yes, 'people' Pepcid, ¼ tablet. Thus began a year and a half nightmare. Some doctors suggested I put Freddie down, but I didn't think it was time, as I know he still had some quality of life. When he couldn't climb over the step to the litter, I rigged up a litter pan on the bathroom floor by putting litter in a jellyroll pan. I kept a dish of water near my bed so he wouldn't have to go all the way to the kitchen for water. I gave him baby food with a dab of liquid cat vitamins. And so it went. I did have to have him rehydrated a couple of times, and learned to do it myself. After about a year of this, I thought, 'This has to mean something.' After all, he had a particular kind of cancer, being treated a certain way, with the holistic vet." Selfman remembered, "Then I thought about my parents, who had willed their bodies to USC Medical School."
Selfman thought maybe she could do the same thing with Freddie's body and began to research the option.
"Eventually I was led to UC Davis. I knew they had a fine vet school, and discovered that they had a Memorial Donation Program, plus various other services for people losing their pets, including classes and workshops, grief recovery, etc. I was assigned a third-year vet student, Pam Wittenberg from the Student Animal Welfare Committee, and we talked about what I wanted. I didn't want to just donate his body for cutting practice. Because he had a specific medical condition, and was treated a specific way, I thought they could learn something special from that. Freddie's liver/tumor grew throughout this time; I used to call it his 'grapefruit.' Breaks my heart to think about it. Maybe I should have put him down, but I just couldn't," Selfman explained. "I made arrangements with two different vets: my regular vet in West Los Angeles, if Freddie died during their regular hours; and their Los Angeles branch, if he died over the weekend. The deal was, I would bring the body in and they would keep it on ice until the vet students from UC Davis would actually drive down and pick it up."
At the age of 13, Freddie died on February 6, 1999.
"At the end of the school term, I and other donors received a form letter from UC Davis expressing appreciation for the donation. The letter also said that, if I wanted to know specifically how my animal's body was utilized, to let them know. I did want to know, and I received a second letter explaining it. Freddie's care cost me several thousand dollars over the year and a half. I have a receipt labeled 'care of deceased' from the regular vet for $20.00, so that's what they charged me to keep the remains until UC Davis picked it up." Selfman added, "I sent notes and calls to all my 'cat' friends. What I found absolutely amazing was the number of cards and calls of condolence. While I loved them, I can say that I didn't receive a fraction of these expressions when either of my parents died! I guess people find it easier to express deep emotion over an animal than over a human."
Dr. Stephens notes that schools of veterinary medicine are in need of animal cadavers.
"A growing number of veterinary students and faculty are concerned about the current sources of dog cadavers, as well as the sources of cadavers of other animals used in veterinary anatomy and surgical psychomotor skills laboratories. The general public too has expressed ethical concerns over the practice of euthanizing healthy animals for anatomical dissections," Stephens explained. "Many states—including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and West Virginia—as well as numerous municipalities have passed legislation barring acquisition of shelter animals for these purposes. The euthanasia of healthy animals for veterinary education is inconsistent with the foundation of companion animal practice and may lead to an ethical conflict with veterinary students, who are taught to value and preserve animal life yet are trained through the harm and destruction of healthy animals."
There are financial and educational benefits to veterinary schools that offer a donation program.
"The cost of running a donation program is less than that of obtaining cadavers from a biological supply company and comparable to the cost of an in-house embalming operation using animals from dealers, shelters, the greyhound industry, and other sources," Stephens said. "Donated animals are a catalyst for bringing case-based learning into the curriculum. For example, in anatomy labs at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, students in each lab group are provided with the complete medical history of their animals and will later be expected to prepare short presentations on the animals' medical conditions."
If you are considering donating your pet's body to veterinary medicine when he or she dies, there are many online sites and brochures available for research to help you with your decision.
As stated in the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine euthanasia brochure, "Donating your pet's remains to the veterinary school can be a way of letting the spirit of your pet live through the education of future veterinarians, who are being trained to heal other animals. In addition, your willingness to participate in the program supports a humane approach to obtaining resources for this training. Animal cadavers are invaluable in teaching veterinary students about animal anatomy and the skills they need to master to become competent veterinarians."
In their euthanasia brochure, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine describes the purpose of the donation: "This most honorable type of donation helps teach surgical skills to the next generation of veterinarians. Your deceased pet makes a tremendous contribution to learning by becoming a noble part of the educational process in this way. The veterinary students benefiting from medical memorial donations are deeply grateful for this type of learning. People who make such thoughtful, personal contributions by donating their pet's remains can be assured that the body of their deceased animal will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. Providing an educational memorial is truly a profound donation, for even after death, your pet can make a lifetime contribution to the education of a future skilled and compassionate veterinarian."
Former Tufts veterinarian Dr. Gary Patronek says that clients have "the satisfaction of making a contribution to veterinary medical training and eliminating the need to take the life of an otherwise healthy dog for this training."
Normally, there are no costs to the pet owner to participate in the donation.
"Owners whose animals have been treated at veterinary school clinics and are eventually confronted with having to put their terminally sick animal down, the clinic usually waives the cost of euthanasia if the animal's body is donated to the school's EMP. There may be costs associated with some programs if the owner wants the cremation remains back." If animal owners want to receive cremation remains after the body is used for science, Dr. Stephens points out that programs vary, "depending on the individual school and its state laws. Interested pet owners should inquire about that option. At Western University, for example, all animals are ultimately cremated. At the time of the donation the owner is given the option of private cremation with ashes returned to them although some restrictions may apply. All costs of this option are covered by the program."
For Selfman, she's pleased with her decision to donate her pet's body as it gave Freddie's challenging life more meaning. Today, she is the proud owner of three cats: Oliver, Sheba and Bubbles.
By coincidence, both of Selfman's nephews subsequently graduated from UC Davis after her donation to veterinary science.
For more information visit Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine www.educationalmemorial.org/resource_brochure-tufts.html.
Pictured: Freddie looks into a mirror, when he was younger and healthy, several years before he got sick.
Dr. Martin Stephens, Vice President of Animal Research Issues at The Humane Society of the United States in Gaithersburg, Maryland, reminds animal owners that Educational Memorial Programs offer the opportunity to support the training of future veterinarians and contribute to the well-being of other animals.
"The decision to donate a cherished pet's body to a local veterinary school is a personal one, as is the related decision over whether to donate one's own body or organs to medical science," Stephens said. "People who are uncomfortable about donating their pet's body, even after they have looked into the matter and had their questions answered, should probably not move forward."
Pet owner Flo Selfman, Public Relations Consultant in Los Angeles, remembers the path that led her to make the decision of donating her cat's body to veterinary science.
"I adopted Freddie from Pet Pride shelter in West Los Angeles. He was about two years old. He was a perfect, wonderful cat, one of those 'soul mate' animals. He was a short-haired tabby with tiger markings on his face and four white paws on long legs," Selfman said. "One Saturday in July 1997, I had been out all day. When I returned about 4:30, I heard an ungodly moaning from my bedroom closet. It was Freddie, and I had no idea what was wrong with him. I rushed him to the emergency vet. They kept him overnight, rehydrated him, x-rayed him, and recommended that I have ultra-sound."
An ultrasound revealed diffused liver cancer and Selfman faced choices.
"I took him to a cancer specialist -- a wonderful woman named Dr. Sue Downing, now at ACC & IM in Culver City. She did not recommend chemotherapy (which I could not have afforded), so I took Freddie to a holistic vet, Dr. Marc Bittan, in West Los Angeles. He recommended various things, including milk thistle, which Freddie could not keep down so I couldn't give it to him; shark cartilage, which I could not afford; and some other stuff including Pepcid. Yes, 'people' Pepcid, ¼ tablet. Thus began a year and a half nightmare. Some doctors suggested I put Freddie down, but I didn't think it was time, as I know he still had some quality of life. When he couldn't climb over the step to the litter, I rigged up a litter pan on the bathroom floor by putting litter in a jellyroll pan. I kept a dish of water near my bed so he wouldn't have to go all the way to the kitchen for water. I gave him baby food with a dab of liquid cat vitamins. And so it went. I did have to have him rehydrated a couple of times, and learned to do it myself. After about a year of this, I thought, 'This has to mean something.' After all, he had a particular kind of cancer, being treated a certain way, with the holistic vet." Selfman remembered, "Then I thought about my parents, who had willed their bodies to USC Medical School."
Selfman thought maybe she could do the same thing with Freddie's body and began to research the option.
"Eventually I was led to UC Davis. I knew they had a fine vet school, and discovered that they had a Memorial Donation Program, plus various other services for people losing their pets, including classes and workshops, grief recovery, etc. I was assigned a third-year vet student, Pam Wittenberg from the Student Animal Welfare Committee, and we talked about what I wanted. I didn't want to just donate his body for cutting practice. Because he had a specific medical condition, and was treated a specific way, I thought they could learn something special from that. Freddie's liver/tumor grew throughout this time; I used to call it his 'grapefruit.' Breaks my heart to think about it. Maybe I should have put him down, but I just couldn't," Selfman explained. "I made arrangements with two different vets: my regular vet in West Los Angeles, if Freddie died during their regular hours; and their Los Angeles branch, if he died over the weekend. The deal was, I would bring the body in and they would keep it on ice until the vet students from UC Davis would actually drive down and pick it up."
At the age of 13, Freddie died on February 6, 1999.
"At the end of the school term, I and other donors received a form letter from UC Davis expressing appreciation for the donation. The letter also said that, if I wanted to know specifically how my animal's body was utilized, to let them know. I did want to know, and I received a second letter explaining it. Freddie's care cost me several thousand dollars over the year and a half. I have a receipt labeled 'care of deceased' from the regular vet for $20.00, so that's what they charged me to keep the remains until UC Davis picked it up." Selfman added, "I sent notes and calls to all my 'cat' friends. What I found absolutely amazing was the number of cards and calls of condolence. While I loved them, I can say that I didn't receive a fraction of these expressions when either of my parents died! I guess people find it easier to express deep emotion over an animal than over a human."
Dr. Stephens notes that schools of veterinary medicine are in need of animal cadavers.
"A growing number of veterinary students and faculty are concerned about the current sources of dog cadavers, as well as the sources of cadavers of other animals used in veterinary anatomy and surgical psychomotor skills laboratories. The general public too has expressed ethical concerns over the practice of euthanizing healthy animals for anatomical dissections," Stephens explained. "Many states—including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and West Virginia—as well as numerous municipalities have passed legislation barring acquisition of shelter animals for these purposes. The euthanasia of healthy animals for veterinary education is inconsistent with the foundation of companion animal practice and may lead to an ethical conflict with veterinary students, who are taught to value and preserve animal life yet are trained through the harm and destruction of healthy animals."
There are financial and educational benefits to veterinary schools that offer a donation program.
"The cost of running a donation program is less than that of obtaining cadavers from a biological supply company and comparable to the cost of an in-house embalming operation using animals from dealers, shelters, the greyhound industry, and other sources," Stephens said. "Donated animals are a catalyst for bringing case-based learning into the curriculum. For example, in anatomy labs at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, students in each lab group are provided with the complete medical history of their animals and will later be expected to prepare short presentations on the animals' medical conditions."
If you are considering donating your pet's body to veterinary medicine when he or she dies, there are many online sites and brochures available for research to help you with your decision.
As stated in the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine euthanasia brochure, "Donating your pet's remains to the veterinary school can be a way of letting the spirit of your pet live through the education of future veterinarians, who are being trained to heal other animals. In addition, your willingness to participate in the program supports a humane approach to obtaining resources for this training. Animal cadavers are invaluable in teaching veterinary students about animal anatomy and the skills they need to master to become competent veterinarians."
In their euthanasia brochure, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine describes the purpose of the donation: "This most honorable type of donation helps teach surgical skills to the next generation of veterinarians. Your deceased pet makes a tremendous contribution to learning by becoming a noble part of the educational process in this way. The veterinary students benefiting from medical memorial donations are deeply grateful for this type of learning. People who make such thoughtful, personal contributions by donating their pet's remains can be assured that the body of their deceased animal will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. Providing an educational memorial is truly a profound donation, for even after death, your pet can make a lifetime contribution to the education of a future skilled and compassionate veterinarian."
Former Tufts veterinarian Dr. Gary Patronek says that clients have "the satisfaction of making a contribution to veterinary medical training and eliminating the need to take the life of an otherwise healthy dog for this training."
Normally, there are no costs to the pet owner to participate in the donation.
"Owners whose animals have been treated at veterinary school clinics and are eventually confronted with having to put their terminally sick animal down, the clinic usually waives the cost of euthanasia if the animal's body is donated to the school's EMP. There may be costs associated with some programs if the owner wants the cremation remains back." If animal owners want to receive cremation remains after the body is used for science, Dr. Stephens points out that programs vary, "depending on the individual school and its state laws. Interested pet owners should inquire about that option. At Western University, for example, all animals are ultimately cremated. At the time of the donation the owner is given the option of private cremation with ashes returned to them although some restrictions may apply. All costs of this option are covered by the program."
For Selfman, she's pleased with her decision to donate her pet's body as it gave Freddie's challenging life more meaning. Today, she is the proud owner of three cats: Oliver, Sheba and Bubbles.
By coincidence, both of Selfman's nephews subsequently graduated from UC Davis after her donation to veterinary science.
For more information visit Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine www.educationalmemorial.org/resource_brochure-tufts.html.
Pictured: Freddie looks into a mirror, when he was younger and healthy, several years before he got sick.
