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Stop Animal
Exploitation NOW!
Media Coverage ANIMAL RESEARCH Activists challenge UI standards
Findings of flaws presented; university reasserts compliance By Jim O Neal The Gazette IOWA CITY — Pointing to the University of Iowa’s own documentation of
flaws in the treatment of research animals at UI labs, animal rights
activists Wednesday demanded that the university prove its claim that it
fully safeguards the animals’ welfare. Now! The university reiterated its assertion that it complies with legal
and ethical standards. Leana Stormont, president of the Iowa Law Student Animal Legal
Defense Fund, held a press conference in front of Spence Laboratories of
Psychology to call attention to the results of an investigation
conducted by Stop Animal Exploitation Now! S t o r m o n t , the Midwest representative of Stop Animal E x p l o
i t a t i o n Now!, noted that the UI Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee d e t e r m i n e d that surgeries conducted on pigs in 2003
and 2004 deviated from the protocol approved by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. The research technician responsible for the deviations was barred
from further contact with live animals. Also, Stormont noted, the committee last year was informed by an
office of the National Institutes of Health that it had been tardy in
conducting program reviews and facility inspections. Stormont said five monkeys ‘‘were confined to abysmal conditions and
subjected to repeated experiments’’ from 1987-2003. She further charged
that rodents at UI labs are sometimes killed by ‘‘cervical
dislocation,’’ a procedure she decried as cruel, rather than being
humanely euthanized. Stormont said the findings should spur public concern. ‘‘One can only wonder what additional violations are not being
reported,’’ she said. She said the university prohibits public inspection of laboratories
where animal research is conducted because non-researchers would be
repulsed by what they saw. ‘‘UI assures us all is well within its laboratories but will not
allow anyone to see what is going on inside,’’ she said. ‘‘The burden of
proof is on them to substantiate their claims about animal welfare. If
we’re wrong, it would be very easy to prove us wrong.’’ Steve Maravetz, director of Health Science Relations at the UI, said
the university is proud of its record on the treatment of lab animals.
‘‘We do animal research here, and we spend a great deal of time,
energy and money to oversee that research,’’ he said. ‘‘We comply
strictly with all federal guidelines on animal research. Beyond that, we
adhere to the highest ethical standards in the use of these animals.’’
Stormont and Jim Jacobson, treasurer of the Defense Fund chapter,
questioned the value of conducting biomedical research on non-human
animals, calling it a poor predictor of human responses to illness and
treatment. M a r a v e t z dismissed that assertion. ‘‘The body of evidence is o v e r w h e l m - ing,’’ he said. ‘‘The
use of animals in research has moved the ball down the field in a whole
host of areas. Obviously, we disagree on that. We think the stakes are
too high. We’re talking about people’s lives here.’’ Contact the writer: (319) 339-3170 or
jim.o’neal@gazettecommunications.com
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