Educational items in Arabic

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2006:

LONDON–The International Network for Humane Education in
February 2006 launched an Arabic version of the Inter-NICHE web site
providing alternatives to animal use in life science education.
First posted by InterNICHE founder Nick Jukes in 1997, with
many subsequent updates and expansions, the site is already used
worldwide, but Cairo University professor Fawzy El-Nady anticipated
that the Arabic version might reach an especially receptive audience
which has had little previous access to antivivisection materials.
“In Islam,” said El-Nady, “imprisoning animals is a sin,
and cutting or injuring animals whilst alive is also forbidden. By
analogy and inference, this applies to science and science
education. It is also specifically forbidden [in Islam] to harm
frogs,” El-Nady added. “The use of alternatives fits well with
Islamic science.”

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A 2nd ex-OSU chimp dies at Primarily Primates

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

SAN ANTONIO– A second former Ohio State University
laboratory chimp has died soon after arrival at the Primarily
Primates sanctuary in Leon Spring, Texas.
Bobby, 16, was found dead in his cage on April 20, about
seven weeks after the death of Kermit, 35, who was at Primarily
Primates for less than a day.
Necropsy results due as the May 2006 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE
went to press are expected to find that as with Kermit, Bobby died
from a pre-existing heart condition. “Bobby did visit a cardiologist
about five years ago and was put on heart medication,” Primarily
Primates spokesperson Vernon Weir told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “I understand
that the university stopped this medication several years ago,
presumably because it was not necessary over the long term.

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Ohio Supreme Court rules for OSU

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

COLUMBUS–Ruling against an appeal by the Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine, the Ohio Supreme Court held
unanimously on March 15, 2006 that photographs and video recordings
of animal experiments made by researchers for their own use are
protected from disclosure under the Ohio open records law because
they are considered “intellectual property.”
PCRM sought to obtain copies of documentation of spinal cord
research done by the Ohio State University College of Medicine.
PCRM “argued that the records already had been publicly released and
therefore were no longer exempt,” summarized Associated Press. “Ohio
State acknowledged that it had loaned some of the records to
scientists and research trainees, and had shown a small number of
the records to scientists at medical conferences. But the court
accepted the university’s argument that those disclosures related to
conducting the research itself.”

Ex-Ohio State University laboratory chimp dies on arrival at the Primarily Primates sanctuary

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2006:

COLUMBUS, SAN ANTONIO–Kermit, 35, one of nine chimpanzees
sent by Ohio State University to the Primarily Primates sanctuary in
Leon Spring, Texas, died under sedation on March 2 as sanctuary
staff tried to move him from a transport cage to larger holding
quarters.
Ohio State has donated $324,000 to Primarily Primates to
build permanent facilities for the chimps that will be about five
times larger than their university housing, and to provide for their
maintenance.
“Veterinarian Thomas Vice had administered a shot of
anesthesia, followed by two smaller doses, when Kermit collapsed in
a sitting position,” reported Kevin Kidder of the Columbus Dispatch,
based on the account of Ohio State laboratory animal resources
director William Yonushonis.
A necrospy done at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical
Research in San Antonio found that the cause of death was a “heart
attack associated with pre-existing heart disease, pulmonary
congestion and tissue swelling associated with handling. The
necropsy did not address tranquilizers in Kermit’s body,” wrote Mike
Lafferty of the Columbus Dispatch.

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Six months of struggle for Swiss anti-vivisection umbrella culminate in silent march

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2005:

ST. GALLEN, Switzerland–Striving to regain stability after
operating under three presidents and undergoing a complete board
turnover since July 2005, the Swiss antivivisection society
Aktionsgemeinschaft Schweizer Tierversuchsgegner on December 17,
2005 led the silent march against animal experiments in St. Gallen
that has traditionally been the focal AGSTG activity.
The march was to be followed by the AGSTG annual membership meeting.
Formed as an intended collective voice for Swiss
antivivisection organizations, the AGSTG throughout the latter part
of 2005 posted the march and meeting schedule and otherwise asked web
site visitors to come back later.
The 2005 turmoil developed out of a financial crisis worsening for at
least five years. After experiencing investment portfolio losses of
1.5 million francs in 2001, and 1.75 million francs in 2002, the
AGSTG lost 1.74 million francs in just the first quarter of 2003,
according to financial statements obtained by ANIMAL PEOPLE.
In March 2003 the AGSTG hired a new chief executive,
Thorsten Tonjes, 34, on a half-time salary. Tonjes succeeded Peter
Beck, who is also president of Animal Life Germany and remained as
AGSTG vice president. Working from a home office, Tonjes more than
doubled AGSTG spending. This apparently stimulated AGSTG income,
but huge deficits continued.

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Animal studies that can’t be exported

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2005:

Some U.S. animal studies are considered too risky to send
abroad–like the biological defense studies to be done at the $167
million Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas
Medical Branch, scheduled to open in 2008.
Such facilities are designed to be ultra-secure, but have had lapses.
New York City attorney Michael C. Carroll argued in his 2004 book Lab
257 – The Disturbing Story of the Government’s Secret Plum Island
Germ Laboratory that research accidents may have introduced Lyme
disease and West Nile fever to the U.S.
Whether or not that happened, three lab mice who were
infected with deadly strains of plague as part of a federal
biodefense project disappeared in early September from separate cages
at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey. The loss
was disclosed two weeks later by Josh Margolin and Ted Sherman of the
Newark Star-Ledger.
In January 2005 Boston University was embarrassed by the
disclosure that two researchers were infected by a potential lethal
form of the rabbit-borne disease tularemia in May 2004, and another
in September. Their illnesses were not identified until October.
Boston University reported the cases to city, state, and
federal health agencies, as required, but they were not revealed to
the public until after November 2004 hearings on university plans to
build a “Biosafety Level 4” high-security lab at its South End
medical campus, located amid a densely-populated urban neighborhood.

Latest U.S., U.K., & Down Under lab stats

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2005:

Current lab animal use statistics from the U.S., Britain,
Australia, and New Zealand show mixed trends. The total numbers of
animals involved in experiments are up over the past decade, yet
remain well below the reported peaks, and the numbers of animals
used per experiment are still trending down.
The most recent U.S. figures:

Animal Top yr Peak total 2004
Dogs 1979 211,104 64,932
Cats 1974 74,259 23,640
Monkeys & apes 1987 61,392 54,998
Guinea pigs 1985 598,903 244,104
Hamsters 1976 503,590 175,721
Rabbits 1987 554,385 261,573
Farm animals 1991 214,759 105,678
Other tracked 1992 529,308 171,312
All tracked 1985 2,153,787 1,101,958

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Will the European Union phase out animal testing–or export it?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2005:

BRUSSELS–Trade associations representing
the animal health, bio tech, chemical,
cosmetic, pesticide, pharmaceutical, and soap
and detergent sectors on November 11, 2005
signed a pledge to jointly seek alternatives to
animal testing. The agreement was brokered by
European commissioners for enterprise and
research Günter Verheugen and Janez Potoènik.
“We do not only wish to reduce animal
testing, but also want to bring it to an end in
the long run,” declared Verheugen.
The signatories committed themselves to
producing an action plan early in 2006,
Sebastian Marx of the cosmetics trade group
COLIPA told Stephen Pincock of The Scientist.
European Union laboratories currently use about
10.7 million animals per year.
“More than half of these are used in
research, human medicine, dentistry, and
fundamental biological studies,” wrote Pincock.

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Animal Friends Croatia halts beagle experiments & wins circus animal act bans, but who are they?

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2005:

ZAGREB–The difficulty of getting from one part of Croatia to
another may have kept Animal Friends Croatia from attending the
International Companion Animal Welfare Conference in Dubrovnik–but
they were busy.
Between October 10 and November 11, Animal Friends Croatia
won bans on circus animal acts in ten cities: Mursko Sredisce,
Varazdin, Donji Mholjac, Rovinj, Velika Gorica, Split, Delnice,
Gospic, Cakovec, and Ozalj.
The string of victories started 81 days after Animal Friends
Croatia exposed and ended a series of debilitating surgical
experiments on 32 beagles at the University of Zagreb Medical School,
following just six days of campaigning.
The campaign was amplified by all radio and TV stations in
Zagreb, five days in a row, and was endorsed by 15 leading Croatian
public figures, including national president Stejepan Mesic.
Eventually the beagles were surrendered to Animal Friends Croatia.

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