Category: Animals in Research

Animals in laboratories

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1995:

The USDA hopes to soon replace the present system of
classifying animal dealers, Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service officer Steve Smith told ANIMAL PEOPLE on January 3.
All commercial animal breeders other than farmers now receive Class
A permits; those who sell animals they do not breed themselves are
issued Class B permits. A common misperception is that “Class B
dealer” is synonymous with shadowy characters who sell stolen pets to
laboratories, but in fact about three-fourths of the 1,280 current Class
B permit holders are in the pet trade; no more than 75, according to
Smith, sell dogs and cats to labs, and of those, fewer still sell “ran-
dom source” animals. Under the anticipated regulatory amendment,
there will be nine different permit categories, each of which is specific
to the nature of the permit-holder’s business.

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Animals in laboratories

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, Jan/Feb 1995:

Legislation In Support of Animals has asked the Department of the Interior for a sta-
tus report on the condition of about 100 sooty mangabey monkeys kept by the Delta Primate
Center at Tulane University. Explains LISA president Jeff Dorson, “After an intense lobbying
effort, Tulane obtained a federal permit to buy wild or captive sooty mangabeys from west and
central Africa and through interstate commerce in
1987. The permit allows Tulane to buy up to 150 of
these endangered monkeys for use in leprosy exper-
iments, and is good for 10 years. In granting the
permit, however, the National Institutes of Health
agreed to fund, conduct, and complete a survey to
determine the remaining number of wild primates in
west and central Africa. The survey would cost tax-
payers $250,000. The agreement also stipulated
that Tulane would set up a captive breeding pro-
gram for sooty mangabeys. If the survey was not
completed, Delta would be forced to release 150

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LABORATORY ANIMAL NUMBERS: GOOD NEWS OR BAD? by Andrew Rowan

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1994:

In March of this year, I reported that the number of
laboratory animals used annually had declined by up to 50%
in many European countries and also probably in the United
States. I based this conclusion on a variety of sources. In
Europe, Great Britain and the Netherlands have collected
data on laboratory animal numbers with reasonable diligence,
and their records are usually regarded as being reliable. In
both cases, laboratory animal use has fallen by approximate-
ly 50% since the mid-1970s. Switzerland also reports a 50%
decline between 1980 and 1990; the sources for this claim
are news reports in the scientific literature. Similarly,
France, Italy, Sweden, and Germany all report declining
use, although their records are incomplete and cover only a
few years in the 1980s and 1990s. Canada, via the Canadian
Council on Animal Care, also reports significant declines in
the use of the common laboratory mammals.

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Animals in laboratories

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1994:

A Call for Public Forums on the
Use of Animals in Research and Education,
issued by Jane Goodall and the Green World
Center, asks university students and faculty to
“learn about and discuss animal experimenta-
tion and its actual practice in your own com-
munity,” emphasizing exchange of perspec-
tives over confrontation. “One of the greatest
barriers to social change is the confrontational
approach,” Goodall concluded. “Many areas
of discussion do not resolve neatly into black
and white. Learning from and reasoning with
those who do not share our views is one way
we grow as people.” Mailed to university
newspapers across the U.S. circa November 1,
the call was ratified in a follow-up mailing by
the American Anti-Vivisection Society.

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Coulston keeps Air Force chimp contract

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1994:

The U.S. Air Force has renewed
the Coulston Foundation’s contract to man-
age the 540-member chimpanzee colony at
Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.
The colony, the world’s largest, includes
140 chimps left over or descended from those
used in lieu of human astronauts during the
early days of NASA. The rest belong to
Coulston, a biomedical research suppler.
Founder Frederick Coulston, 79, reportedly
wants to expand the use of chimps, now
used mainly in AIDS and hepatitis research,
into testing treatments for conditions of age.
According to Boston Globe
reporter Scott Allen, “Coulston or his associ-
ates have removed chimps’ gall bladders to
study how the animals produce bile, and
Coulston believes that chimps are often the
best model for studying the effects of toxic
chemicals on humans. And Coulston pio-
neered the use of lower primates such as
monkeys in tests in which chemicals are
sprayed into open eyes, a practice he still
supports. Sources close to the company say
his researchers tested oven cleaner on mon-
keys’ eyes last year, despite initial objec-
tions from the in-house panel that reviews
research ethics.”

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BOOKS: Animal experimentation: Cruelty or Science?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:
Animal experimentation: Cruelty
or Science? by Nancy Day. E n s l o w
Publishers Inc. (Bloy St. & Ramsey Ave.,
Box 777, Hillside, NJ 07205-0777),
1994. 128 pages, $17.95 hardcover.
This is one of the titles of Enslow’s
“Issues in Focus” series, books tailored to
readers aged 12 and up, exploring current
controversies. Animal Experimentation
examines the pros and cons of vivisection in
as fair and unbiased a treatment as possible,
quoting experts and spokespersons from both
camps.

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Research

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

The National Institutes of Health Human
Embryo Research Panel, after eight months of
study, on September 29 endorsed federal funding for
biomedical research on human embryos outside the
womb during the first 14 days after conception. The
panel recommended against the creation of embryos
specifically for research, however, except to research
matters directly pertaining to fertilization.
The Environmental Protection Agency
and the National Institutes of Environmental
Health Sciences on September 22 hosted a gathering
of 60 scientists to discuss protocols for reducing the
number of animals used in testing the cancer-causing
potential of chemicals. The goal is to identify car-
cinogenicity from use of one sex and one species,
instead of the present minimum of two to achieve rec-
ognized findings.

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Hawaii dolphins lived, by Steven C. Sipman

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

It has been brought to my attention that an otherwise excellent and infor-
mative article in the September 1994 issue of ANIMAL PEOPLE in which my
name was mentioned contains a few errors which should be corrected. The article
unfortunately omitted documented facts regarding the release of two bottlenose dol-
phins from a University of Hawaii research station in 1977. The article stated,
“One vanished; the other was killed within 24 hours when waves dashed her
against a coral reef. Her chances of survival were dubious to begin with.”
Neither dolphin vanished. Puka, the first dolphin, simply swam away.
The other, Kea, was not killed, as was reported. Witnesses confirmed that she was
slightly roughed up in a bungled recapture attempt by inept volunteers.
Both dolphins have been reported together and in the company of other
dolphins by University of Hawaii scientists, professional divers, lifeguards, and
Harbor Patrol employees, days, weeks, and months after their release. Such evi-
dence has been entered into court under oath.

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