By Mary Max -
[email protected]
With PETA's undercover videotape of egregious acts of
animal abuse by lab technicians at the University of North Carolina's
research lab being delivered to members of the Farm Bill Conference
committee last Friday, we might just have another real chance to exclude
Sen. Jesse Helms Amendment! Please read the below and then make a few
calls!!
As many of you know, the US Senate and the House of
Representatives have each passed their own versions of the Farm Bill.
Conferees from the Senate and House Agriculture Committees are meeting
now to iron out differences between the two bills before it is signed by
the President.
There are four animal protection amendments that animal
exploiters are working hard to have removed: the Animal Fighting
Amendment, the Puppy Protection Act, the Bear Protection Act, and The
Downed Animal Provision.
There is one amendment the animal exploiters hope to
keep - the amendment introduced by Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) which
would bar the USDA from including mice, rats and birds under the Animal
Welfare Act.
In the April 19 Washington Post article, "PETA Says Tape
Shows Rat Research Violations," reporter Rick Weiss gives us some
background on that amendment,
"The Animal Welfare Act, which since 1971 has been the
keystone statute regarding the use and care of lab animals, requires the
Department of Agriculture to promulgate rules for the handling of all
warm-blooded research animals. But the USDA has never done so for
rodents or birds, saying such regulation would be burdensome and
expensive and could stymie important biomedical research. More than 20
million of the animals are used annually in U.S. labs, accounting for 95
percent of all research animals.
"Facing a lawsuit by activists that the agency was
widely predicted to lose, the USDA in October 2000 agreed to start a
rulemaking process covering rodents and birds. But the agency has yet to
release draft wording. None will be needed if Helm's amendment, which
would permanently exempt those animals from the AWA, survives conference
discussions now underway."
The Post article focuses on an undercover video taken by
a PETA spy who infiltrated a University of North Carolina animal
research facility with a hidden camera. The video has been delivered to
House and Senate conferees. Weiss writes,
"Helms and others have claimed that rodents and birds
are adequately protected by other federal and institutional rules. The
video seeks to undercut that assurance. In one scene, a researcher cuts
open the skulls of squirming baby rats to remove their brains without
first numbing the animals in a bucket of ice -- a shortcut that the
researcher concedes on tape is a violation of the experimental protocol.
'I don't put them to sleep,' he tells the undercover technician. 'Maybe
it's illegal, but it's easier.'"
The article also describes other disturbing footage. You
can read it on line at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13173-2002Apr19.html
I hope the footage described in the Washington Post
article will motivate you to spend just a few minutes making an effort
to help defeat Senator Helm's amendment.
I urge everyone to make a quick and polite call to the
following offices saying that you are calling to ask the Representative
or Senator to OPPOSE the Helms amendment to the Farm Bill which would
exclude birds, rats, and mice from the Animal Welfare Act. (Some
receptionists may ask if you have input on other issues in which case
please mention you would like them to SUPPORT the four animal protection
amendments mentioned at the top of this alert.)
Here are the numbers of the Conference Committee heads:
1. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA): ph: (202) 224-2035 / Fax:
(202) 224-9287
2. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN): ph: (202) 224-2035 (same number as
Harkin's) / Fax: (202) 224-1725
3. Representative Larry Combest (R-TX): ph: (202) 225-2171 / Fax: (202)
225-0917
4. Representative Charles Stenholm (D-TX): ph: (202) 225-0317/ Fax:
(202)
225-8510
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