TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Alberta the dog doesn’t bark or bite, and she’s skinless and hairless, although she does bleed. Frankly, she is frightening to look at.
But she apparently makes an excellent cadaver.
Alberta is a canine made entirely of synthetic material, created to provide veterinary students with anatomically correct bodies for surgical practice. And while she looks like she belongs in a Halloween horror display, all bulging eyes and bared teeth, this product is designed to replace the euthanized shelter animals many vets practice on.
“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,” said Dr. Christopher Sakezles, the founder of SynDaver Labs.
“This product is going to give them more of a lifelike experience with the tissue,” he said.