zoopery

zo•op•er•y (zoh-op'-er-ee)  n

Definition:
1. the performing of experiments on animals, especially the lower animals

zooperal adjective; zooperist adverb

Related:
Synonyms: vivisection
Related Words:
zooerastia, n. - sexual intercourse with an animal
zoogamy, n. - sexual reproduction of animals
zoogenous, adj. - originating in animals
zoography, n. - description of animals
zooid, n. - organism resembling animal, especially asexually produced; sperm cell. zooidal, adj
zoolite, zoolith, n. - fossil animal
zoology, n. - study of animals. zoologist, n. zoological, adj
zoomancy, n. - divination by observation of animals. zoomantic, adj
zoometry, n. - measurement of animals
zoomimetic, adj. - imitating an animal or part of an animal
zoomorph, n. - object in form of animal. zoomorphic, adj
zoomorphism, zoomorphy n. - representing animals in decoractive arts; representation of God as lower animal
zoonic, adj. - pertaining to or derived from animals
zoonosis, n. - disease that can be communicated among animals or from animal to human. zoonotic, adj.
zooparasite, n. - a parasite of animals
zoopathology, n. - animal pathology
zoophaga, n. - an artificial group comprising various carnivorous and insectivorous animals
zoophagy, n. - feeding on animals. zoophagous, adj. zoophagan, n
zoophile, n. - lover of animals; plant pollinated by animals. zoophilia, zoophilist, n. zoophilous, zoophilic, adj
zoophobia, n. - dread of animals
zoophorus, zophorus, n. - sculptured relief frieze with a continuous pattern of humans or animals
zoophyte, n. - plant-like animal, as coral, sea anemone, etc. zoophytal, zoophytic, adj
zoophytology, n. - study of plant-like animals
zoopsia, n. - hallucination of animals
zooscopy, n. - hallucination of seeing animals. zooscopic, adj
zootechny, zootechnics, n. - breeding and taming of animals. zootechnic, adj
zootheism, n. - attributing divine attributes to animals
zootomy, n. - study of animal anatomy. zootomic(al), adj. zootomist, n
zootrophy, n. - feeding of animals. zootrophic, adj
zootypic, adj. - of the animal type

Example:
• ...scheduled as he was, before a week was out, to undergo a required bit of zoopery with a psychiatrist. "It would of course be taken as healthier — more normal — for you to hate her," the psychiatrist muttered, sitting back and meditatively circling his foot. It was absurd: hate Isabel?

The Storyline
So perhaps as a defense mechanism, Anna watched the scene unfolding before her with a sense of detachment, like a zooperist observing rats in an artificial environment, drugged, dazed and navigating the experimenter's obstacles.

Origin:
from Greek zoion, "animal" + peiran, "to experiment"

Sources: Free Dictionary, Luciferous Logolepsy, Webster's Unabridged (print)

Why This Word:
The one sentence fragment posted above is the only use of zoopery in a sentence, on the whole internet. (Feel free to prove me wrong.) So I have the opportunity to post the only complete sentence example freely available using zoopery (or derived form). So there's that.
The Greek root zoion, is a veritable argosy of derived words. (Zoo is two syllables, excepting in The Zoo.) So there's that too.
But what really drew me to the word was how rare the word is but how common the practice. Even though zoopery is an essential component of medical component of medical, food and cosmetic research, the practice is as invisible to most of us as the word.

Word-E: A Word-A-Day