Dog News

Creepy “Cadaver” Dog Is Actually Helping to Save Real Dogs’ Lives

by Fred

Life With Dogs is reader-supported. We may earn a small commission through products purchased using links on this page.

 

 

To simply catch a glimpse of Alberta, one might think they are looking at a prop from a horror movie set, but they’d be very wrong.  The intent with Alberta is not to scare people, but to train medical professionals on how to perform lifesaving medical procedures in real-time.

Alberta, a SynDaver Synthetic Canine is shown during a news conference Tuesday, May 31, 2016, in Tampa, Fla. The synthetic canine is an extremely detailed and realistic surgical trainer. The company is hoping the creation will end the need for live animals being used in veterinary medical schools. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Alberta is 100% synthetic, and helps to provide veterinary students with an anatomically correct workspace to learn in.  Hopefully, Alberta will go to replace actually euthanized dogs from shelters, which are used as teaching tools in many schools now.

Dr. Christopher Sakezles, chief technology officer and founder of SynDaver Labs, gestures as he stands in front of a SynDaver Synthetic Canine during a news conference Tuesday, May 31, 2016, in Tampa, Fla. The synthetic canine is an extremely detailed and realistic surgical trainer. The company is hoping the creation will end the need for live animals being used in veterinary medical schools. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Alberta was designed at SynDaver Labs.  According to its founder Dr. Christopher Sakezles, “Animal cadavers are bad, not just because they were once live animals but because once the tissues are frozen and or preserved, they’re not the same anymore, so they don’t feel the same and they don’t perform the same.  This Product is going to give them more of a lifelike experience with the tissue.”

Dr. David Roy Danielson, clamps off a bleeding vein while operating on a SynDaver Synthetic Canine during a news conference Tuesday, May 31, 2016, in Tampa, Fla. The synthetic canine is an extremely detailed and realistic surgical trainer. The company is hoping the creation will end the need for live animals being used in veterinary medical schools. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

SynDaver also makes human cadavers made from the same materials as the dogs.  Just like the human version, the dogs will be made of polymers derived from water, salt fiber and other tissue analogs.  Everything from the skin, bones, muscles and organ systems are as lifelike as could possibly be, and far more realistic according to SynDaver.

Dr. David Roy Danielson, clamps off a bleeding vein while operating on a SynDaver Synthetic Canine during a news conference Tuesday, May 31, 2016, in Tampa, Fla. The synthetic canine is an extremely detailed and realistic surgical trainer. The company is hoping the creation will end the need for live animals being used in veterinary medical schools. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

One of the first places to get the new synthetic dog cadaver will be the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine.  They’ll be receiving 25 of them, and there are apparently many other order that will need to be filled on release day.

6.2.16 - alberta5