Cruel Knives? Vivisection and Biomedical Research in Victorian English Canada

This discussion shows how the use of animals in biomedical research in Canada evolved during the latter half of the nineteenth century from simple demonstrations to more sophisticated series of experiments. More important, however, is the argument advanced that Anglo-Canadian society's response to vivisection and the use of animals in research centred on issues such as cruelty, exploitation, and broader notions of religion, power, and gender. This exploration of vivisection in Victorian Canada, then, reveals that it was, as elsewhere, a complex debate involving more than the use of animals for biomedical research purposes.