This equipment was developed by Jay Georgi, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, USA. Named the "Artificial Dog," it is used for breeding fleas for scientific research, eliminating the need to use live laboratory animals for the purpose. Seen through the perspex are a series of cylinders which feed fresh cow blood to adult fleas. The fleas are housed in containers beneath these cylinders; in order to drink the blood they bite through a plastic membrane which mimics skin. Temperature and humidity are also controlled. Up to 12,000 fleas can be bred per day.