What I killed this week

Several veterinarians I know keep track of "What I killed today" (or "this week"), either on a public blog or as a private exercise.

I think it's a nice way to acknowledge the sacrifice made by the many animals who die for teaching purposes -- as well as the pets we put to sleep for various reasons.

So here's what I killed this week:

Tuesday: An adult male rat who was a "retired" research animal slated for euthanasia one way or another, but used in my Rabbit & Rodent Medicine curriculum to teach us rodent handling, restraint, venipuncture, and intraperitoneal/intracardiac injections while he was alive, and physical exam, castration, and necropsy after I euthanized him.

Thursday: An old white female New Zealand rabbit who was "donated" for teaching purposes by a local breeder who produces rabbits for meat. We learned rabbit handling and restraint on her, practiced giving SQ injections and placing catheters in ear veins, cephalic veins, and medial saphenous veins. After I euthanized her, we practiced spays and necropsy.

Both of the animals I killed this week were sweet and friendly, which made it a little tougher. However, I really don't have a personal problem with small mammals being used in ethical research and for humane teaching purposes -- and all the animals used in this week's labs were essentially destined to die in some form or fashion in the end. But I'm thankful that we were able to make good and thorough use of their deaths in helping us to better handle and treat similar species in the future -- and hopefully help those future animals survive.