Canine lovers have even more reason to love dogs resulting from a recent study conducted by a group of scientists based out of Italy. The UK Guardian states the manuscript was published in the Journal of Urology in which is the research behind the study is result of a culmination of decades of studies demonstrating that dogs can detect prostate cancer in men.

Presently, physicians use the PSA test to detect prostate cancer in men which is done by withdrawing blood from the patient along with a biopsy and physical examination. According to the Guardian:

The two female dogs sniffed urine samples from 900 men, 360 with prostate cancer and 540 without. Both animals were right in well over 90% of cases.

The paper’s authors, from the Humanitas Clinical and Research Centre in Milan and other institutes, admitted further work is needed to determine just how valuable the dogs’ skill might be in identifying, in daily practice, the signs of prostate cancer.

This method may not just involve detecting prostate cancer but a number of other cancers and illness. I would be curious to know if they oppose it because of the pain and fear that animals can experience in some experiments. The policy pieces I have read at animal rights groups’ websites tend to point to the use of medical devices (such as needles) and some psychological tests as their reasons for opposing vivisection. In this instance it involves dogs sniffing urine which involves nothing other that and observing the dog’s reaction. However, I have no doubt animal rights groups, like PeTA, would oppose such a method since they have consistently stated they are opposed to the use of animals in medical research as well as using animals for domestication and even exhibitions for educational purposes. Like PeTA head Ingrid Newark is quoted as saying in a 1994 interview:

Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we’d be against it.

By opposing animal testing such as this, groups like PeTA would rather men contract prostate cancer so the human species could not populate further. It is not only an attack on us but on the entire human race as well as medical science. As a species it is our moral right to use Earth’s resources for our betterment and that includes using animals for domestication, consumption as well as medical and cosmetic experimentation. Humans are nature’s favored species because of our ability to think and reason, animals lack any such ability. Therefore, not only should animals not be given the same rights as humans but it is our right to exploit them for purposes beneficial for our existence.