Hackney, Sheldon

English

Kosmopolis

A Hundred Years of Health Care for Animals and Man

ScholarlyCommons@Penn

Bellwether MagazineVolume 1Number 13 Fall 1984 Article 310-1-1984A Hundred Years of Health Care for Animals andManSheldon HackneyUniversity of PennsylvaniaThis paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. http://repository.upenn.edu/bellwether/vol1/iss13/3For more information, please contact libraryrepository@pobox.upenn.edu.A HUNDRED YEARS OF HEALTH CARE FORANI AND MAN by Sheldon Hackney t this special convocation marking one hundred years of veterinary medi­cme at Penn, we look back over a century of progress in semce to animals-beasts of burden and live-­Mock, pets and sporting animals. We are delighted to be gathered at the University Museum where the magni� ficent e.xhib1tion Man and Ammals has been mounted for the occasion. Past achievements and current medical advances are here presented in the uruque context of prehtstonc remains of domestic animals and ancient anifacto; from the Museum, ail of them attesting to the thousands of years during which people and beasts have been living, working, and changing together. To speak only of the past century: Great changes have come about at the University of Pennsylvania since both the Museum and the School of Veterinary Mechcine were founded in the 1880s. In veterinary medicine, an enormous amount of ground has been covered in recent dr'cades. �f'l f for ery good r�son Even though the establishment of the first climes in the faJJ of 1884 represented a great stride forward in the medical attention given to animals, therapy and techniques and knowledge about their special needs still lagged far behind the treatment for human patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania next door. Some rudimentary awareness of antisepsis ''�recorded by Thomas Eakins when he pamted his famous Agnew Clinic in 1889, depictmg the Penn surgeon operating in a white coat. Jn animal surgery. on the other hand. antisepsis was instituted well within living memory-to be precise, after the arrivaJ at the Veterinary School of Mark Allam, who, as Dean, initiated the move to catch up with the higher medical standards of human treatment In the usual way, society's treatment of its animals lags behind its concern for humanitarian reforms. It can also be something of a measure of the degree of its advancement and civilization. This is borne out by the fact that, in Western society, voluntary organiL.ations concerned with the welfare of animals became known as "humane societies." Man's humanity to animals is thus a �trong indication of a SOCiety's humanity m geneml. It is true that the Egyptians embalmed large numbers of cats. and a few animals in the Bible were even admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven; but. on the whole, for most of mankind's history, the human struggle with the forces and the scourges of nature has left little leisure for a caring concern for his fellow animals. lo ancient times, the differences between man and animals were underscored: According to Judae<>-Christian teaching, man ranks "a little lower than the angels" and rightfully holds dominover the animal world. Only in the last cen­tury did Darwin establish that the human race was. on the contrary, perhaps only a Little higher than ion the other living things with whom it shares its ancestry. More recently, advances in bi� chemistry and physiology have tended to confirm that unity, with new evidence indicatmg that all of Life's processes a.re constructed on the same chem­icaJ reactions. Recent improvements jn heaJth care for both humans and animals have come about because of these commonalities between man and animal at the molecular level: aU the knowledge that has been acquired. including a number of stellar dis­coveries responsible for saving Lives by the thou­sands, has onJy been won as a result of research and testing done with animals. Pasteur's discovery of vaccination, and his experiments in inoculating rabid dogs, resulted in development of a treat­ment for human rabies. Unlike polio, which has become a rarity since the vaccine was developed, rabies is currently a threat in the Mid�Atlantic area, to which Pennsylvania belongs. This dreaded disease rightfully strikes terror into the hearts of the pop LJlation Whil� it has not been poss1ble to eradicate this wildlife-carried scourge, the vaccine developed through experiments with animals makes it possible to protect domestic pets through immunization, and this is also the best hope for preventing fatal attacks on humans. The fact is. whether new drugs and proce­dures have combated tuberculosis and diabetes. saved "blue babies." or provided information on the cause of infantile respiratory distress syn� drorne, virtually every treatment on which society depends has involved prior research and testing on animals. Nevertheless, the successes of modem medi­cine, which have saved countless lives and untold suffering, are apparently less easy to keep before the public consciousness than the lurid misrepre­sentations that a small but virulent minority of those concerned with animal rights has resorted to. Individual scientists, here at Penn and else­where, have been subjected to libels and threatS of Centennial Celebration! At the October 16 Convocation honoring the School of Veterinary Medicine, the President opened the ceremonies with the following address to the assembled faculty, stqlf, students, alumni andfriends of the SchooL violence. In criminal break�ins, animals that are maintained under strictly inspected conditions. meeting high standards for the sake of good science as well as humane values. have been harmed by untramed handling. Years of research. conducted by men and women who recognize the moraJ and legal obligations of their work. have been wasted, along with the lives of precious sub­ject animals-and all because of the immoraL ille� gal actions of a few misguided people who prefer simple explanattons to complex quest tons. and distorted accusations to rational discourse. Such wanton violence does a disservice to fair-minded people, researchers and supporters of animal wel� fare alike, as well as to our interdependent society of people and animals. The propaganda of this small self�serving group loses credibility when it accuses the Veteri­nary School here of engaging in sadistic research, an absurd charge against a School that has, on the contrary, done so much to improve the lot of animals. But exaggeration is par for the course to those whose purpose is ullimatel)' to block all research involving the use of animals. Thus a small. arrogant group is seeking. through terrorist intimidatior4 to impose its will on society-a society that bas determined that continuing to maintain and improve the health of humans and animals is a worthy goal. As for the fact that medical centers are the object of attack: h is easier to misrepresent the individual researcher as a monster than to face up to the complex choices that must be made by society. The question is, finally. not one of animal rights but rather of human duties towards ani­mals. As a community, we at the University of Pennsylvania act according to our ftm1 belief that we have duties towards animals. As much-needed research continues to be performed in a search for the cause of cancer, or infantile respiratory dis­tress syndrome, or multiple sclerosis, or of new therapies for the treatment of high blood pressure, stroke, and mental disease. or orthopedic proce­dures for the benefit of accident victims (or race­horses) experimental protocols must be screened at the highest levels. and reviewed by bodies that include researchers and members of the general public. Where there is no alternative for obtaining information, we must insure that experimental animals are tended by a qualified veterinarian and treated according to the highest standards, and that their use involves a minimum of conscious suffering. Agamst a backdrop of strict humane and ethical controls. the School of Veterinary Medicine looks forward to providing its diverse patients with the highest levels of care, all predi­cated on the advances taking place in its labs. and in quality laboratories everywhere, for the present good of society and for the knowledge from which future generations of people and animals will continue to benefit. FaJlJ984 S 

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A Hundred Years of Health Care for Animals and Man

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