Gastric Juice for Sale
Pavlov’s experiments were funded in part by the public sale of the gastric juice of dogs as a cure for chronic indigestion in humans. Whilst most dogs were destined for the labs and experiments, some were designated the role of ‘factory workers’ for this purpose.
‘Factory dogs’
In a separate dedicated section of The Physiology Department row upon row of dogs could be found on any working day, all secured to a long beam above, a bench below. Each dog, starved before their shift, is subjected to the ‘sham feeding’ system.
‘Sham feeding’ trials
The system was first developed for physiological studies and demonstrations of digestive processes. In Pavlov’s gastric juice factory, however, the focus was the extraction and collection of large quantities of gastric juice untainted by food, to be sold to the general public as a cure for dyspepsia – otherwise known as chronic indigestion.
We reimagine the labelling and advertising that might have accompanied the public sale of the product. We remain largely faithful to the descriptions and instructions that Pavlov produced, including correct dosage, health warnings, and the apparent testimony of happy customers.
Would you have tried it?
That might seem like an easy question to answer — of course not! As a remedy to be ingested by humans, canine gastric juice probably seems pretty repellent, even if we are unaware of the specifics of how it was extracted. But perhaps, on reflection, it’s not that different from the thousands of items we consume today that contain animal products, however well-hidden their origins and means of production might be?