Reproductive bio-technology for the guide dog for the blind

Abstract

Although guide dogs make a remarkable contribution to the quality of life of the blind people, many countries suffer from an acute shortage of guide dogs such that not all those who need them are able to be supplied. One of the important challenges from the point of view of animal and veterinary science as well as social welfare is to establish a stable and effective breeding and reproduction system for guide dogs for the blind. Although the development and extension of assisted reproductive techniques such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization has been remarkable, in canines, it is not a successful as other mammalian spices such as mice, pigs, cows and humans. In this review, recent advances of cryopreservation of sperm, embryo and ovary, analysis of personality related genes and bio-bank in guide dogs for the blind are described.