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Stop Animal
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Media Coverage Groups call for UI to open labs Representatives from groups challenging animal experimentation
in research called on University of Iowa officials to open access to its
laboratories. Members of the Iowa Law Student Animal Legal Defense Fund
released an audit from Stop Animal Exploitation Now during a news conference
Wednesday outside UI's Spence Laboratories. The audit used information gleaned from records from the UI
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Some of the group's findings
include: dogs kept in dirty cages; animal welfare act violations during a pig
surgery; mice and rats having necks broken; and repeated experimentation on five
monkeys during a 16-year period. Last November, members of the Animal Liberation Front, a
decentralized worldwide animal rights group, allegedly removed animals, spilled
chemicals and damaged computers in Spence Labs and Seashore Hall. Authorities
continue to investigate the matter and no arrests have been made. "Just because the break-in was illegal doesn't mean animal
research shouldn't be challenged," said Jim Jacobson, treasurer of the Iowa Law
Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Jacobson said UI officials have repeatedly denied requests to
release information on animal experimentation or allow access to its labs. UI spokesman Steve Parrott said UI maintains its animal
research goes beyond government regulations. "I don't think we can respond to their audit without taking
some time to look at it," he said.
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