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• If Only Dogs Could Talk.
  susanne stevens
  Published on: 25 July 2017

• Published on: 25 July 2017

  If Only Dogs Could Talk.

  • susanne stevens, retired none

  Dogs have been deliberately bred to be reliant on humans for company as well as to take advantage of their unique skills and intelligence, used in various ways as working dogs , such as sheep herders ,where empathy, attachment and love are blatantly obvious. They are entitled to be cared for , not to be exploited as a substitute for the human guinea pigs of the past. Using dogs which have been discarded by their owners is doubly abhorrent as regarding their lives as even more worthless. It is reminiscent of the recent past again where disabled and ill and people regarded as inferior were used for experimentation. Referring to the dogs, even in quotes, as 'volunteers' is simply disingenuous. Volunteering includes an act of willingness and agreement to procedures,
  There is no question of consent of course but ethical issues are inherent in using brain scanning of other groups of often vulnerable people. They have some ethical protection but the urge to 'progress' has often fudged this. Neuropsychiatry is involved in experimentation using scans to diagnose areas of the brain which are claimed to be involved in mental health problems including the highly stigmatising and to some extent catch all label of Personality Disorder. Using scans as a tool for providing treatment designed to change a person's brain ,including psychotherapy ,raises serious ethical questions. How would people give informed consent to having scan...

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  Dogs have been deliberately bred to be reliant on humans for company as well as to take advantage of their unique skills and intelligence, used in various ways as working dogs , such as sheep herders ,where empathy, attachment and love are blatantly obvious. They are entitled to be cared for , not to be exploited as a substitute for the human guinea pigs of the past. Using dogs which have been discarded by their owners is doubly abhorrent as regarding their lives as even more worthless. It is reminiscent of the recent past again where disabled and ill and people regarded as inferior were used for experimentation. Referring to the dogs, even in quotes, as 'volunteers' is simply disingenuous. Volunteering includes an act of willingness and agreement to procedures,
  There is no question of consent of course but ethical issues are inherent in using brain scanning of other groups of often vulnerable people. They have some ethical protection but the urge to 'progress' has often fudged this. Neuropsychiatry is involved in experimentation using scans to diagnose areas of the brain which are claimed to be involved in mental health problems including the highly stigmatising and to some extent catch all label of Personality Disorder. Using scans as a tool for providing treatment designed to change a person's brain ,including psychotherapy ,raises serious ethical questions. How would people give informed consent to having scans taken throughout treatment in order to monitor any change? How would the diagnosis be described initially? With new neuropsychiatric labels? Would 'success' be reliant on a changed brain image? How much would having these scans affect the relationship with a practitioner? How even would they be trained, chosen and allowed to practice in this way? How would the treatment be described in medical notes - which can have serious implications for employment and insurance applications.?

  The authors say they have used dogs in experiments themselves but these being relatively benign can be seen as harmless. There is a fudge here even by those who have a genuine concern for the lives of dogs . Severe criticism is directed at those who cross a line into more obvious harmful experimentation but just a little bit of seemingly understood as benign exploitation/experimentation by themselves is acceptable. If only dogs could tell us what they think of us.

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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