These Fascinating Discoveries About Dogs Will Make You Angry About Animal Experiments

If you share your life with a four-legged friend, it won’t come as a surprise that dogs are a lot smarter and more in-tune with our emotions than previously thought. This week, Cruelty Free International published a paper about ground-breaking ethical research on companion dogs to make the case against experimenting on our best friends.

Here are Seven Fascinating Findings About Dogs From Our Scientists’ Research:

1. When they hear humans speak, dogs can recognize and understand the distinction between different words. So no more excuses from Fido for confusing “Sit!” and “Fetch!”

2. Dogs can also tell the difference between tones of voice and recognize different emotions in speech, which explains those guilty looks on their faces when they’re being scolded for sneakily stealing food from your plate.

3. Dogs are also able to interpret individual facial expressions. So, after a long day at work, they know you are just as excited to see them as they are to see you.

4. Nobody who shares their life with dogs will be surprised to learn that dogs experience positive emotions. Let’s face it … only a dog could feel such overwhelming joy at chasing a tennis ball.

5. Did you also know that dogs can feel empathy and sense sadness or fear? Next time your canine friend comes to cheer you up, you know why.

6. According to scientists, dogs also demonstrate genuine human bonding. The companionship and love from a dog isn’t just because you feed them. They really do care.

7. Scientists involved in some of these studies believe a dog’s ability to feel love and attachment means they have the same level of understanding and awareness as a three-year-old human child. We wouldn’t subject our own children to life in a laboratory, so it is high time we put an end to horrific experiments on dogs once and for all.

What You Can Do for Dogs

This latest research all supports much of what we already knew about our furry friends. Dogs are loving and loyal and important members of the family.

But, every year over 200,000 dogs across the world are forced to suffer in experiments, which include testing chemicals and new drugs for humans. With the growing evidence that testing on dogs is not an effective way to develop medicine for humans and the increased availability of humane alternatives, there is no need for these horrific practices to continue.

That is why Cruelty Free International is calling for a total ban on the use of dogs in experiments to stop this cruelty for good. With the lives of thousands of dogs at stake, we urgently need your help to put an end to the suffering. Find out more here and help us fight cruel experiments on dogs.

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