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Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, Inc.
38 East Market Street, Rhinebeck, New York 12572 USA -
845-876-2626
Vegetarian - Vegan - Animal Rights - Health - Nutrition - Environment
The mission of the Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, Inc. is to promote the vegetarian ethic in the Mid-Hudson (New York) region, educate the community and aid anyone in the pursuit of a totally vegetarian (vegan) cruelty-free and healthful lifestyle.
Newsletters
Articles From the Summer 1998 Newsletter
We're Signatories of the
CRT Campaign
by Constance Young
The Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society has signed on as signatory of the CRT (Campaign for Responsible Transplantation) Campaign. The CRT Campaign recognizes the public health risks posed by xenotransplants (transplanting live animal organs into humans). It also endorses a ban on all forms of taxpayer-funded xenotransplantation experiments and on clinical applications of this technology.
According to the CRT Campaign, some of the dangers from xenotransplantation include:Circumventing natural barriers to infection (the skin and gastrointestinal tract) promotes the transmission of infectious diseases from animals to humans.
Animal viruses within the body of the person who receives a xenotransplant could become airborne, infecting scores of other people. Viruses that are harmless to the animal host can be deadly when transmitted to humans. For example, Macaque herpes is harmless to Macaque monkeys but fatal to humans.
Scientists have continued to discover new viruses in primates and pigs and there is no way to screen for still unknown viruses. Performing a xenotransplant from an animal infected with an unknown virus would infect not only the patient. Non-patients as well could be exposed to a host of new animal viruses which might remain dormant for months or years before being detected.
By law xenotransplantation could be considered illegal since it affects unintended people and is therefore a form of involuntary human experimentation which violates US laws and United Nations charters.
It is impossible to breed "germ free" animals as proponents of xenotransplantation propose since no animal can remain completely free of parasites or endogenous viruses. In fact, genetically engineered animals are more susceptible to a host of diseases because they have weaker immune systems.
Breeding animals for xenotransplantation creates a host of environmental problems, including soil and groundwater contamination associated with disposal of animal waste and the carcasses of genetically modified animals and their offspring.
There is virtually no, or at best weak, oversight of transplantation procedures
Return to Summer 1998 Newsletter
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