Vivisection
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:
A page one expose in The New York Times on March 23 reviewed the mounting evi-
dence that animal testing is not a valid means of measuring human risk from exposure to tox-
ins––especially carcinogens. The Clinton administration is believed likely to reduce governmen-
tal reliance on animal studies in assessing public health risks.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March 24 lifted a 16-year-old ban on the
use of female volunteers in drug safety testing. Imposed to protect unborn children, the ban had
the effect of exposing women to greater risks from new drugs––and increased the number of
female animals used in developing some drugs.
U.S. District Court judge Charles Richey ruled February 25 in Washington D.C. that
lenient dog and primate care regulations issued by the USDA violate the intent of Congress in
passing the Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act of 1985. The ruling came in a suit
brought by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation,
the lobbying branch of the Animal Welfare Institute. Barring a successful appeal of Richey’s ver-
dict, the regulations now must be rewritten and reissued.
General Motors announced February 27 that it would no longer use live animals in
automobile crash tests. G.M. was the last major car-maker that had used animal experimentation.
Washington state senator Scott Barr is pushing a bill (SB5832) to revive the practice
of forcing animal shelters to turn dogs and cats over to biomedical researchers. Washington resi-
dents may protest to the legislature c/o 1-800-562-2600 between 8 and 5 p.m. weekedays.
Carolina Biological Supply went on trial March 8 in Greensboro, North Carolina, for
seven violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including allegedly embalming 10 live cats. CBC,
of Burlington, N. C., is one of the largest supplies
of animals for classroom dissection in the U.S.
The Animal Alliance of Canada recent-
ly discovered that the University of Toronto had
been doing research on some dogs obtained from
pounds for as long as eight years each.
U.S. Surgical Corporation reportedly
got permission on February 18 from the
University of South Florida animal care and use
committee to kill up to 180 dogs in laparoscopy
demonstrations at the USF College of Medicine
during the next three years.
According to the German newspaper
Berliner Morgenpost, researcher Wolfgang
Scharmann is torturing animals to construct a “pain
scale” that will permit fellow researchers to more
accurately report the amount of animal suffering
involved in their experiments.
Mobilization for Animals Pennsylvania
held a press conference and demonstration March 5
at the University of Pittsburgh to protest cat mutila-
tion experiments by researchers Robert Schor and
David Duke, which have cost over $1 million, but
have yet to produce useful discoveries.
The first World Congress on Animal
Use and Alternatives in the Life Sciences will be
held November 14-19 in Baltimore, hosted by the
Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal
Testing. More than 38,000 scientists from around
the world have been invited to attend. Get details
c/o World Congress, 1101 14th St. NW, Suite
1100, Washington, DC 20005; 202-371-2200.
