Dogs with certain spinal injuries are receiving experimental treatment at Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Nicholas Jeffery, professor of veterinary clinical sciences, has been conducting the research. Jeffery, who is from the United Kingdom, said he has always had an interest in spinal cord treatment. He began developing the project in the U.K. before he came to Iowa State. While at Iowa State, he was able to set up the project which began in July 2013.

“There’s a lot of potential in things here,” Jeffery said.

About 60 dogs will participate in the project, which will last about three years, Jeffry said. He uses the Internet to find dogs to participate in the trial, including a website called Dodger’s List. The trial is also publicized.

Jeffery said eligible dogs are ones that have been paralyzed in both hind legs for three months. The trial is also limited to smaller dogs.

The dogs will all eventually be injected with a drug that breaks down the scar tissue around the spinal cord, which prevents the making of new connections. Because the trial is an experiment, it is conducted in a double blind fashion where only Jeffery will know what he is injecting.

Some dogs at first will receive a placebo injection, but eventually, every dog will receive the injection of the real drug. In six months, Jeffery will be able to gauge how well the dogs respond to the injection.

“If this works in dogs, the idea is that perhaps it might work in people,” Jeffery said. “The spinal cord organization is pretty much the same.”

Although Jeffery has had only three dogs participate in the trial, he said the research will pick up in January when a doctoral student will aid him in the experiment.

Jane Wengert, veterinary technician in the Veterinary Medical Center, is also helping Jeffery with the experiment. Wengert said she helps handle the dogs and also communicates with the owners.

“I take care of the animals’ feeding, exercise, maintenance and handle the animals,” Wengert said.

Jeffery said exercise is an important component in the research.

“Part of the therapy is to get physical therapy as well,” Jeffery said.

Wengert said that while the dogs suffer from spinal injuries, they are still happy and continue to act like normal dogs.

“They still keep going and still do what dogs do. Owners that have these dogs are special people,” Wengert said, explaining the owners make a commitment to care for the dogs and keep them healthy. “We’re hoping with the research project that these paralyzed dogs may have hope.”

Although Jeffery said he is interested in helping dogs, he also said he has taken an interest to find out how research might help people. He said dogs are much more like humans than lab rats, especially in this case, where the injuries in rats are all the same. However, the rats are easier to use for genetic testing.

“They answer different questions,” Jeffery said in comparing a lab rat to a dog for research. “When you’re treating people, they’re all very different.”

Jeffery said the research is being funded by the International Spinal Research Trust, which chooses to sponsor different projects through application submissions.