Answer:
“Clearly, some testing and research is done in dogs for historical reasons [existence of benchmark data] rather than because they are the best models
Explanation:
It is unconscionable that dogs, the most popular companion animals in the country, are used as research subjects in laboratories, but that is the tragic truth. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports show that tens of thousands of dogs are used in research, testing, teaching, or experimentation in the U.S. every year by research facilities, including hospitals, schools, diagnostic laboratories and private firms in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Although the number of dogs used in research has declined by 72% since their peak use in 1979, the most current USDA statistics show that 59,401 dogs were used for “research, testing, teaching, or experimentation” in 2018, although the exact purposes for which these dogs were used remain unclear.
