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UCLA Presents Distorted Image of Animal Testing UCLA Presents Distorted Image of Animal Testing, Activists Allege The
university's research is irrelevant and is done to attract grant money,
the head of animal rights group Stop Animal Exploitation Now! says. Animal rights activists accused UCLA officials Tuesday of painting a
distorted picture of animal testing on campus and questioned its
relevance. At a news conference in front of the administration building, Michael
Budkie, head of a nonprofit group called Stop Animal Exploitation Now!,
said that test animals are "so stressed they are mutilating their own
bodies" and that UCLA sponsors research to attract grant money. Budkie, whose Ohio-based organization provides research for animal
rights activists, made public several pages of what he said were
handwritten lab observation notes on primate subjects at UCLA.
University officials would not confirm the authenticity of any of the
documents. Budkie also handed out what he said was researcher Dario Ringach's
2003 application to UCLA's Animal Research Committee in which the
applicant explained why primate testing was necessary. Ringach, a
neurobiologist, has been studying the brain and the ways it receives
information from the retina. Budkie, who said he got all of the documents under California's
Public Records Act, was followed by half a dozen local protesters
chanting "UCLA is an institution of higher torture" and other
catchphrases. Budkie's news conference comes at a time when UCLA officials say
their primate researchers are under intensifying harassment from animal
rights activists. Ringach, whose work made him a target of radical
animal rights activists, last month gave up his primate research, citing
concern for the safety of his family. Budkie said Tuesday that the point of UCLA's animal research is to
enrich itself with grant funds. "This not about science. This is not
about research. This is about bringing money to the university." University spokesman Lawrence Lokman would not comment on Budkie's
charges, but said, "We are fully behind our research program, and it
leads to lifesaving medicines." Other UCLA officials, who quietly watched the activists speak, passed
out a statement noting that animal research at UCLA is "heavily
monitored…. All requests to use animals in research, teaching or testing
undergo rigorous review by well-informed scientists, veterinarians and
members of the general public not affiliated with UCLA." In the documents provided by Budkie, building locations and names of
researchers had all been redacted. But there are detailed descriptions
of procedures to be performed on animals — under anesthesia — finally
concluding with the animals being "sacrificed at the conclusion of the
procedure." One document laid out in detail how monkeys would be used clinically
and monitored for pain. "After induction of anesthesia the animal's head
is mounted in a stereotaxic headholder, designed especially for visual
experiments. A small craniotomy is made over the brain region of
interest and electrodes are attached to the skull." Eventually the monkey's pupils are dilated and fitted with contact
lenses for the research, and eyelids retracted. The monkey is also given
a paralytic agent and is continually physiologically monitored. At the
end of the experiment, while still anesthetized, the animal is "given an
overdose of sodium pentothal in accordance with" American Veterinary
Medical Assn. guidelines. In a Sept. 1 letter he sent to UCLA Acting Chancellor Norman Abrams,
Budkie asked for a meeting to talk about animal research. Abrams said in
an interview Tuesday that he received the letter Friday and was still
studying it. UCLA senior Kristy Anderson, the president of the school-sanctioned
University Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said Tuesday
that Roberto Peccei, vice chancellor for research, has agreed to meet
with her about her group's concerns.
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