1074 
ANIMAL RESOURCES 
Table I. — Survivors and non-survivors comparing Lab- 
rador retrievers and pound dogs undergoing experi- 
mental open heart surgery — liO cases; technical 
errors excluded. 
Non- 
Survivors survivors Total 
Labradors 
Tricuspid 14 (93%) 1 (T/, ) 15 
Mitral . 52 (93%) 4 (7%) 56 
Rotary aortic 6 (100%) 0 6 
Aortic _ 7 (88%) 1 (12%) 8 
Total 79 (93%,)** 6 (7%) 85 
Pound dogs 
Tricuspid 15 (83%) 3 (17%) 18 
Mitral 32 (68%) 15 (32%) 47 
Rotary aortic 5 (83%) 1 (17%) 6 
Aortic 3 (75%) 1 (25%) 4 
Total 55 (73%)»* 20 (27%) 75 
••Highly significant difference (P<0.01). 
From: Fletcher et al., Lab. Animal Care 19:506-508, 1969. 
have increased so that it is apparent that the 
cost of the dogs is a minor part of the total ex- 
pense, yet the untimely death of each subject 
dog escalates the overall cost of experimenta- 
tion. It seems conclusive that care must be exer- 
cised in selecting dogs used in research and 
efforts to improve the quality of research dogs 
should be continued and intensified. 
METHODS AND MATERIALS 
To obtain a better dog as a research model, 
personnel from Departments of Surgery and 
Animal Care began in 1960 to review the origin 
and development of all known breeds of dogs 
and selected the Labrador retriever as a breed 
well suited for inbreeding to develop a strain 
of large laboratory dogs.^ In addition to having 
been inbred while vigorously culled as a sport- 
ing dog, Labrador retrievers possess other char- 
acteristics desirable in a laboratory dog. These 
include: large size, short hair, large litters, 
early maturity, "easy keeping", phenotype uni- 
formity, good cage tolerance, docility, train- 
ability, and stress resistance. 
In 1961, the UOMS Departments of Surgery 
and Animal Care started a breeding colony of 
purebred Labrador retrievers with 15 dogs all 
closely related to one outstanding sire, Cork of 
Oakwood Lane. The breeding plan initially was 
to alternate inbreeding of one litter with out- 
breeding as much as possible the next litter. 
With selection on the original breeders and the 
addition of new breeding stock, the colony has 
been enlarged to 40 breeding bitches and 7-8 
principal studs. The breeding plan was modified 
to include two inbred lines composed of 7 bitches 
and one sire each and an outbred line composed 
of 26 bitches and 5-6 sires. All 3 Labrador coat 
colors (black, chocolate and yellow) are present 
in the colony. 
The colony is the subject of a number of on- 
going programs of study. They are in the areas 
of husbandry, physiology, reproductive physiol- 
ogy, and genetics. All of these research projects 
are designed to define the dog, in order to pro- 
vide a better research model. 
The husbandry program involves the routine 
management of the mature breeders and ap- 
proximately 300 puppies per year. The dogs 
are housed in outdoor runs with a crushed rock 
bottom. The runs measure 8' x 40' or 10' x 30'. 
Adult females are housed two per pen and 
breeding males are housed separately. Three or 
four dogs of both sexes are housed together up 
to six months of age. The runs are cleaned daily 
with a motorized wheelbarrow driven down the 
aisle between the runs to aid in removing the 
waste. One full-time employee and one half-time 
employee are required to clean and rake the 
gravel in the 122 runs. 
Table II. — Costs of one open heart animal experiment 
Blood Donor Dog $ 34.00 
Three technicians 175.00 
Recovery room, (five 
days (5> 1.28) 6.40 
Room & Board (for 3 
months @ 93)K/day) ...... 79.05 
ACD boftles (4) 
D5/W (5) 500 cc 
D5/W (3) 200 cc 
Penicillin 
Isuprel _ 
Adrenalin 
Heparin 
Pentothal „ 
Flaxedil _ 
Xylocaine 
Pump tubing 
Ringers solution 
(2) 1000 cc 
Iodine _ - 
Surgical spray 
Normal saline 
(2) 1000 cc 1.00 
Syringes (disposable) 1.15 
Needles (disposable) .50 
Go .25 
CO2 in O2 50 
3.32 
2.40 
1.23 
.50 
.70 
.30 
3.00 
2.80 
2.00 
1.00 
18.75 
1.58 
.20 
.25 
Packs (steam & gas 
sterilization) 
I.V. sets 
Gloves, surgical 
(disposable) 
Masks (disposable) . 
Sanborn paper 
Tape 
Calcium Chloride 
Suture material 
Scrub sponges 
4 X 4's 
Graft material 
(teflon felt) 
Plastic ties 
Skin towels 
Surgical blades 
Plastic bags _ 
Plastic stopcocks 
P. E. tubing 
Bicarbonate 
Bacitracin „ ^ 
Atropine sulfate 
Oxycel ( cotton ) 
Bardic catheters 
6.00 
6.86 
2.80 
1.00 
5.00 
.50 
.75 
40.00 
.96 
1.86 
2.00 
.60 
.75 
1.00 
.50 
.85 
2.00 
1.00 
1.50 
.75 
1.50 
10.00 
Total $562.66 
From: Fletcher et al. Lab. Animal Care 19:506-508, 1969. 
