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Vet Pet Donations

cut up dead pets, and see what's inside them
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Both my mum and dad donated their bodies to medical research, meaning their remains went to the local med school's anatomy department for student learning dissection. It's where I'm headed some day too.

There seems to be no equivalent for deceased pets, which are just as important re veterinarian learning. I would gladly have seen my last beloved cat after ending his fantastic life, being of some use to a trainee vet.

Perhaps such a service already exists, and it's not widely known?

xenzag, Jun 09 2012

The truth ... ? http://www.angelfir...oo/wavs/machine.wav
"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH !" [8th of 7, Jun 09 2012]

[link]






       [+]   

       If this doesn't exist, it should; although, for larger animals, it's trivially easy to obtain pigs, sheep, rabbits etc. for dissection.   

       // It's where I'm headed some day //   

       Some day very soon … please …
8th of 7, Jun 09 2012
  

       Veterinary hospitals run by vet schools frequently use deceased pets (with owner permission) as educational cadavers before creamation. In addition, dogs, cats, and other domestic animals are still used for experimental purposes in this and other countries, leaving no shortage of specimens. A charitable idea, but unnecessary.
Alterother, Jun 09 2012
  

       I think this is a wonderful idea. I'd like to donate [8th].
MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 09 2012
  

       Our rare pet had to be put down (many years ago), and the vet coyly asked if we wanted the dead body back afterwards, we guessed his intention and so our ex-pet was indeed used as a dissection specimen with our permission. So, yes, baked I would say.
pocmloc, Jun 09 2012
  

       "I'd like to donate [8th]." Unknown origin :-)
blissmiss, Jun 09 2012
  

       [poc], your pet wasn't 'donated to science' unless you gave consent for that to happen, using very clear and specific terms of that nature. The vet was simply establishing disposal protocol; it's a touchy subject when somebody's beloved pet has just died, so vets handle it carefully, thus the 'coyness'.   

       According to my Dad, dissection or experimentation upon a deceased pet that is performed without the owner's express informed consent is very illegal in the US, and can result in permanent revocation of a veterinarian's license to practice. He commented that laws may vary in some states, but he's never heard of a state where it is legal without informed consent.   

       If the owners do not claim the animal's remains to dispose of them as they see fit, the veterinary practice is required by law (in the US) to cremate the remains (excepting those practices which have legally established arrangements to provide cadavers for study). If the owners wish to have the pet's ashes as a keepsake, the remains are disposed of via 'private cremation', wherein only that cadaver is placed into the crematory to ensure that the ashes returned to the owner are those of only that animal*. Otherwise, the remains of several animals are cremated together in a 'general cremation', a much more efficient method, and the veterinary practice will have made arrangements to dispose of those ashes (typically they are placed in a landfill, sometimes they are sold to be processed into fertilizer used by tree farms).   

       But, yes, to use the unfortunately unavoidable pun, this idea is fully baked.   

       * At my Dad's practices, we pick out the teeth (which survive the 2600F burn, but partially melt and turn green) before grinding the ashes into powder and sealing them in a plastic bag, which we then put into a decorative wooden box with hand-carved embellishments. Not every veterinary practice goes to such lengths, but everyone tries to handle it respectfully.
Alterother, Jun 09 2012
  

       I'm happy to learn that this is baked, [marked-for-deletion] I'd take it down right away, but the annotations are very informative (and funny).
xenzag, Jun 09 2012
  

       why just an 8th? oh I see.
po, Jun 09 2012
  

       //I'd like to donate [8th]// - I've often wondered what's inside [8th] .... a giant hairball? a tin of Kit-e-Kat? a mouse with a knot in its tail? a jar of effervescent Marmite.... the list goes on.
xenzag, Jun 09 2012
  

       // I've often wondered what's inside [8th] //   

       <link>
8th of 7, Jun 09 2012
  
      
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