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Using tree rings to discover the history of drought in southwest Sask.

Using tree rings to discover the history of drought in southwest Sask.

CBC23-07-2025
David Sauchyn, a professor and director of the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative at the University of Regina, is leading a project using tree rings to explore the history of drought in southwest Saskatchewan. He joined The Morning Edition to discuss what the findings could tell us about the future of drought in the province.
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EXCLUSIVE: Puppies secretly tested and killed at Ontario hospital for human heart research
EXCLUSIVE: Puppies secretly tested and killed at Ontario hospital for human heart research

National Post

time2 hours ago

  • National Post

EXCLUSIVE: Puppies secretly tested and killed at Ontario hospital for human heart research

Article content Some experts are skeptical. Article content 'Dogs are not 50-pound humans,' said Dr. John Pippin, a cardiovascular surgeon who previously performed heart attack research on dogs and now advocates for animal-free research as the director of academic affairs at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Article content 'They have distinctly different anatomy. They have different genetic characteristics that do not translate to humans. You can't do anything to make them transferable to human medicine.' Article content More than 90 per cent of drugs tested on animals never receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration due to safety and efficacy issues. A 2024 meta analysis of more than 120 academic papers on the subject found just five per cent of therapies tested in animals end up as human drugs. Canada does not publish comparable figures. Article content Internationally, researchers are conducting cardiac research with healthy human volunteers or patients undergoing cardiac treatments, said Charu Chandrasekera, founder of the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods and an international expert in animal-free science. Article content Article content 'While clinically relevant studies were being published, tracking how human hearts recover after a heart attack, researchers in Canada were busy filling out forms to order more dogs. The goal should be to expand human data, not invent new dog experiments.' Article content The written statement from St. Joseph's said effective alternatives to dog testing 'don't yet exist for this specific line of inquiry,' and that 'these techniques are essential for providing clinical teams with tools that permit proper diagnosis and treatment for one of the leading causes of death in Canada.' Article content Frank Prato, the founder of the Lawson Imaging Research Program and lead researcher of the studies, has a long history of academic publications involving dog research dating back to at least 1983. Prato has been sacrificing dogs in his studies since at least 1985, according to a dog lung study published that year. Article content His biography on the St. Joseph's website does not reference dog testing of any kind. It reads: 'Over the last 30 years I have founded a research imaging program at Lawson…The focus is to provide leading edge medical imaging technology to the patients of Southwestern Ontario.' Article content Article content Since 2020, Prato has received nearly $500,000 in grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to perform these studies at Lawson. NSERC grants are publicly funded through federal tax dollars. Article content A written statement from St. Joseph's says the number of 'adult' dogs killed annually is 15. Asked to explain the discrepancy, the hospital says it has improved 'processes' that resulted in using fewer animals. Article content Article content The IJB asked the hospital for the total number of dogs of all ages that were killed as part of research at the lab over the past five years. It declined to provide an answer. Article content 'We appreciate the importance of transparency and are working in alignment with regulatory bodies and partners to follow their protocols in this regard,' the response said.

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