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CQ
Animal Rights
                                          Researcher                      Published by CQ Press, a Division of SAGE

                                                                                               www.cqresearcher.com




Is the treatment of animals improving?

              he passage of dozens of tough state animal-protection




T             laws last year reflects growing public interest in

              animal welfare. Today, many Americans view pets as

              family members, and some even leave bequests to

pets in their wills. Vegetarianism has gone mainstream as people

have become concerned about the conditions on factory farms,

and many scientists say farm animals have feelings. Fifteen years

ago, only 10 of the country’s law schools offered animal-law

courses; today about 130 do. At the same time, however, billions

of animals are slaughtered for food each year in our meat-eating        Rhesus monkeys hug at a research facility in Great
                                                                         Britain, where labs must protect the physical and
                                                                         mental well-being of social animals like monkeys
society, and live-animal research is a major tool of biomedicine.        by housing them in groups and giving them toys.
                                                                          Similar laws apply to primates and some other
                                                                                   research animals in the U.S.
The food industry, researchers and others who depend on using

and killing animals are fighting back against what they call             I
overblown concerns about animal rights. Last November, for example,     N
                                                                        S
                                                                             THIS REPORT
Ohio voters approved an amendment to the state’s constitution                    THE ISSUES ........................3
barring the legislature from approving any animal-protection laws        I
                                                                                 CHRONOLOGY....................11
that would apply to farms.
                                                                        D
                                                                                 BACKGROUND ....................12
                                                                        E
                                                                                 CURRENT SITUATION ............16
         CQ Researcher • Jan. 8, 2010 • www.cqresearcher.com                     AT ISSUE ..........................17
                 Volume 20, Number 1 • Pages 1-24
                                                                                 OUTLOOK ........................19
           RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR
           EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD              BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................22
                                                                                 THE NEXT STEP ..................23
ANIMAL RIGHTS
                                                                                  CQ Researcher
                                                                                                 Jan. 8, 2010
        THE ISSUES                                 SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS                     Volume 20, Number 1
        • Do animals have rights?
3       • Are we doing enough             4        Toughest State Laws Make
                                                   Cruelty a Felony
                                                                                       MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin
                                                                                               tcolin@cqpress.com
        to protect the welfare of                  Five states have the “best”     ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch
        farm animals?                              animal-protection laws.                    kkoch@cqpress.com
        • Is animal research nec-                                                        ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost
                                                   Many New Protection
        essary to achieve medical
        progress?
                                          5        Laws Enacted in 2009                STAFF WRITERS: Thomas J. Billitteri,
                                                   Several states passed more             Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel
        BACKGROUND                                 than 100 laws.                     CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rachel Cox,
                                                                                   Sarah Glazer, Alan Greenblatt, Reed Karaim
                                                   More Philosophers Argue
12      Early Farm Laws                   7        for Animal Protection
                                                                                        Barbara Mantel, Patrick Marshall,
                                                                                           Tom Price, Jennifer Weeks
        In 1822, Britain outlawed
                                                   Recent efforts are changing
        cruelty to some domesti-                   the face of the movement.
                                                                                   DESIGN/PRODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis
        cated animals.                                                                ASSISTANT EDITOR: Darrell Dela Rosa
                                                   Nobel Laureates Rely on
15      National Advocates                8        Animal Testing
                                                                                        FACT-CHECKING: Eugene J. Gabler,
                                                                                                 Michelle Harris
        In the 1950s, national                     Many scientists see animal
        animal-welfare groups                      research as vital.
        were established.
                                                   Chronology
        Animals in the Courts             11
16      New laws and legal action
                                                   Key events since 1954.

        are bolstering animals’                    Violent Animal Activists in
        legal status.
                                          12       the Minority
                                                                                                    A Division of SAGE
                                                   Animal Enterprise Terrorism                PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER:
                                                   Act set tough penalties.                          John A. Jenkins
        CURRENT SITUATION
                                                   At Issue
        Farm State Fights
                                          17       Is enough being done to
                                                                                  Copyright © 2010 CQ Press, a Division of SAGE.

16      States have increasingly                   protect animals slaughtered
                                                                                  SAGE reserves all copyright and other rights herein,
                                                                                  unless previously specified in writing. No part of this
                                                   for food?
        become key battlegrounds                                                  publication may be reproduced electronically or
        in the fight over animal                                                  otherwise, without prior written permission. Un-
        welfare.                                   FOR FURTHER RESEARCH           authorized reproduction or transmission of SAGE copy-
                                                                                  righted material is a violation of federal law carrying
        Congress and Beyond                                                       civil fines of up to $100,000.
18      Animal protection is not a        21       For More Information
                                                   Organizations to contact.      CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional
        high priority for U.S. law-                                               Quarterly Inc.
        makers, but support is                     Bibliography
        growing worldwide.
                                          22       Selected sources used.         CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid-
                                                                                  free paper. Published weekly, except; (Jan. wk. 1)
                                                                                  (May wk. 4) (July wks. 1, 2) (Aug. wks. 2, 3) (Nov.
                                                   The Next Step
        OUTLOOK                           23       Additional articles.           wk. 4) and (Dec. wks. 4, 5), by CQ Press, a division
                                                                                  of SAGE Publications. Annual full-service subscriptions
                                                   Citing CQ Researcher           start at $803. For pricing, call 1-800-834-9020, ext. 1906.

19      Test Tube Meat?                   23       Sample bibliography formats.   To purchase a CQ Researcher report in print or elec-
        Creating meat in a labora-                                                tronic format (PDF), visit www. cqpress.com or call
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Cover: Understanding Animal Research/Wellcome Images




2     CQ Researcher
Animal Rights
                                                                                                                                                  BY MARCIA CLEMMITT


THE ISSUES
         he intensifying clash be-
                                                                                                  Fisher, executive vice president
                                                                                                  of the Ohio Farm Bureau Fed-
                                                                                                  eration. “Because we experi-
                                                                                                  enced a little bit of farm life,

T        tween animal-welfare
         advocates and animal-
using industries heated up
                                                                                                  we weren’t inclined to ques-
                                                                                                  tion farming practices or
                                                                                                  question farmers’ character.
last year when President                                                                          Today, it’s a different story. 4




                                                                                              Understanding Animal Research/Wellcome Images
Obama tapped Harvard law                                                                              “A highly organized and
professor Cass R. Sunstein to                                                                     well-financed operation” con-
oversee federal regulations                                                                       ducted by animal-welfare
for American citizens and                                                                         groups like the Humane So-
businesses.                                                                                       ciety of the United States
    Republican Sen. John                                                                          (HSUS) “is under way to
Cornyn of Texas, who placed                                                                       convince you that farmers are
a “hold” on the nomination to                                                                     cruel to their animals. It’s
prevent a vote, particularly                                                                      trickery, but effective,” Fisher
objected to Sunstein wanting                                                                      said. If HSUS’s “Washington
“to establish legal ‘rights’ for                                                                  lobbyists and Hollywood
livestock, wildstock and pets,”                                                                   celebrities can convince you
as a Cornyn spokesperson told                                                                     that farmers mistreat their live-
Fox News. 1                                                                                       stock, then maybe you’ll de-
    In 2004, Sunstein had                                                                         mand changes on the farm,
coauthored a book suggest-           Hens are crammed into cages to facilitate egg laying         changes that you’ve been
ing that animals have legal        and gathering. The treatment of chickens and other farm        led to believe are about an-
rights, and many businesses           animals reflects the conflict over animal rights. In        imal welfare but in reality
that sell animal products, fac-    California, for example, beginning in 2015 farms will be       are calculated steps to limit
                                      required to house veal calves, egg-laying hens and
tory farms, universities that      pregnant pigs in conditions that allow them to lie down,       your access to locally grown,
pursue animal research, as           stand up and turn around freely. In Ohio, however,           safe, affordable food.” 5
well as hunters, feared the          voters in 2009 overwhelmingly barred the passage of              But others say the picture
administration was about to               any laws against cruelty to farm animals.               Fisher paints of local family
embrace an animal-protection agenda. animal ownership is the same as own- farms run on the principle that what’s
    Sunstein ultimately won confirma- ing slaves and that their struggle to good for animals is good for people
tion after assuring senators that he achieve rights for animals is the moral is outdated, since huge “factory” farms
“would not take any steps to promote equivalent of the civil rights or women’s now dominate the industry, with the
litigation on behalf of animals,” de- suffrage movements. In reality, it is result that concern for profits trumps
spite having stated in the past that human life they wish to devalue, low- animal welfare. 6
people should be allowed to bring ering us to a status equal with — or                      At one time, “I viewed factory farm-
lawsuits on behalf of animals that they less than — animals.” 3                          ing as one of the lesser problems fac-
believe have been treated cruelly. 2           Last year in Ohio, voters over- ing humanity — a small wrong on the
    Loretta Baughan, editor of Spaniel whelmingly approved a farm industry- grand scale of good and evil,” but “this
Journal, is among those who fear con- backed amendment to the state con- view changed as I . . . saw a few typ-
cern about animal protection might stitution barring Ohio lawmakers and ical farms up close,” said Matthew
trigger new laws and regulations. “Some the voting public from enacting any Scully, a former special assistant to
fanatic animal-rights believers advo- laws against animal cruelty applying President George W. Bush, whose
cate for ‘non-human’ animals to be to the agriculture industry.                          2002 book Dominion: The Power of
granted ‘personhood’ and legal rights          The measure, Issue 2, “wouldn’t have Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the
enabling individuals and groups to take been necessary a few decades ago. Call to Mercy, argues for strong regu-
owners to court on behalf of their an- Everyone had grandpas or cousins who lation of the meat industry. 7
imal,” she said. “The whole premise let us climb on their tractors and look                 “When corporate farmers need
behind animal rights is a belief that around in their barns,” said John C. barbed wire around their Family Farms



www.cqresearcher.com                                                                                                                          Jan. 8, 2010        3
ANIMAL RIGHTS
                                                                                                                        ing purposes “lie covered in their own
 Toughest State Laws Make Cruelty a Felony                                                                              urine and excrement, with broken legs
 Two states in the West, two in the Midwest and one on the East Coast                                                   from trying to escape or just to turn,
 have the “best” animal-protection laws, according to the Animal                                                        covered with festering sores, tumors,
                                                                                                                        ulcers, lesions, or what my guide
 Legal Defense Fund. The laws include felony penalties for cruelty
                                                                                                                        shrugged off as the routine ‘pus pock-
 and neglect and strong animal-fighting provisions. The five states                                                       ets,’ ” said Scully.
 with the “worst” ranking do not make extreme neglect a felony,                                                             “The usual comforting rejoinder we
 among other shortcomings.                                                                                              hear — that it’s in the interest of farm-
                                                                                                                        ers to take good care of their animals
                 States With the “Best” Animal Protection Laws                                                          — is false,” he said. “Each day, in every
                                                                                                               Maine*   confinement farm in America, you will
       Wash.                Mont.           N.D.**      Minn.
                                                                                                        N.H.            find cull pens littered with dead or
                                                                                                      Vt.
                                                                   Wis.
                                                                                                                        dying creatures discarded like trash.”
                                             S.D.
      Ore.*       Idaho**       Wyo.                                           Mich.*
                                                                                                                            As animal-based food production be-
                                                                                                   N.Y.        Mass.
                                             Neb.
                                                            Iowa
                                                                                                                 R.I.
                                                                                                                        comes a larger and larger industry, ani-
                                                                                      Pa.                               mal welfare is increasingly at odds with
              Nev.                                                Ill.* Ind. Ohio                             Conn.
                       Utah         Colo.
                                                Kan.          Mo.
                                                                                 W.Va.                       N.J.       farming’s business interests, said Gene
                                                                          Ky.**      Va.                    Del.        Baur, president of the farm-animal-
       Calif.*
                                                                            Tenn.           N.C.          Md.
                       Ariz.
                                                    Okla.    Ark.                                                       protection organization Farm Sanctuary,
                                    N.M.                                                  S.C.       D.C.
                                                                    Miss.
                                                                                    Ga.
                                                                                                                        based in Watkins Glen, N.Y. For ex-
                                                                            Ala.
                                                             La.
                                                                     **                                                 ample, “to produce egg-laying breeds
                                               Texas
                                                                                                      Top tier
                                                                                                                        of hens, hatcheries discard millions of
         Alaska                                                                                       Middle tier
                                                                                                                        unwanted male chicks every year. . . .
                                                                                        Fla.          Bottom tier
                               Hawaii**                                                                                 I was at a hatchery once and watched
                                                                                                                        living chicks . . . sent into a manure
                                                                                                                        spreader to be spread on a field as
      Selected Characteristics of                               Selected Characteristics of                             manure.” 9
             “Best” Five                                               “Worst” Five                                         Modern animal science continually
                                                                                                                        provides more reasons to pay greater
    • Felony penalties for cruelty and                       • No felony penalties for cruelty
                                                                                                                        heed to animal welfare, even to the
      neglect                                                  and neglect
                                                                                                                        point of eliminating human use of an-
    • Increased penalties for repeat                         • Inadequate animal-fighting
                                                                                                                        imals altogether, some animal-rights ad-
      abusers                                                  provisions
                                                                                                                        vocates say. Chickens, for example, which
    • Full range of statutory protections                    • Inadequate definitions and
                                                                                                                        don’t even qualify for protection under
    • Strong animal-fighting provisions                        standards for basic care
                                                                                                                        the U.S. Humane Slaughter Act forbid-
    • Humane agents have some                                • No restrictions on animal owner-
                                                               ship following a conviction
                                                                                                                        ding the cruel killing of conscious an-
      law-enforcement authority
                                                                                                                        imals, are now known to have com-
                                                             • No mental health evaluations for
 * denotes “top” five states                                    offenders                                                plex brains, perceptions and emotions,
                                                                                                                        according to People for the Ethical
 ** denotes “worst” five states
                                                                                                                        Treatment of Animals (PETA), a large
 Source: Stephan K. Otto, “2009 State Animal Protection Laws Rankings,” Animal                                          animal-rights group in Norfolk, Va.
 Legal Defense Fund, December 2009                                                                                          “While most people are less fa-
                                                                                                                        miliar with pigs, chickens, fish and
and Happy Valleys and laws [in at                           agricultural “duty” of attending to an-                     cows than they are with dogs and
least two states] to prohibit outsiders                     imals’ welfare, he said. “With no laws                      cats, animals used for food are every
from taking photographs,” as well as                        to stop it, moral concern surrendered                       bit as intelligent and able to suffer
“laws to exempt farm animals [from]                         entirely to economic calculation, leav-                     as the animals who share our homes,”
federal and state cruelty statutes,                         ing no limit to the punishments that                        says the group on its GoVeg.com
something is amiss,” said Scully. As                        factory farmers could inflict to keep                       blog. “Pigs can learn to play video
factory farms grew larger over the past                     costs down and profits up.” 8                               games,” while chickens have “cul-
century, farmers forgot the traditional                        On hog farms, sows kept for breed-                       tural knowledge that they pass down



4        CQ Researcher
from generation to generation,” care-
fully protect their young from dan-           Many New Protection Laws Enacted in 2009
ger and communicate with each other
                                              Several states enacted a total of 121 new animal-protection laws in
using more than 30 separate calls —
all evidence that the animals have a
                                              2009, about one-third more than enacted in 2008. Nevada became
right to live free of suffering and           the 50th state in the country to explicitly ban the possession of dogs
brutality imposed by humans who               for fighting. Oregon and Pennsylvania enacted laws limiting the
raise and slaughter them for food,            use of puppy mills. California became the first state to ban the
PETA argues. 10                               tail docking of cows.
    While the hottest battleground in
animal rights today is farm animals,                 Select Animal-Rights Legislation by State, 2009
there have also been high-profile clash-
es in recent months between animal-            California — First state to ban the tail docking of dairy
rights activists and another of their tra-     cows.
ditional foes, biomedical scientists who
conduct research on animals.                   Kansas — Became the 39th state to make cockfighting a
    Last summer, animal-rights protesters      felony.
in Europe vandalized the grave of the
mother of Daniel Vasella, CEO of Basel,
                                               Maine — Became the sixth state to prohibit confinement of
Switzerland-based Novartis pharma-             farm animals in gestation and veal crates.
ceuticals, and may have burned Vasel-          Nevada — Became the final state in the nation to ban the
la’s Austrian vacation home to protest
                                               possession and training of dogs for fighting.
Novartis’ contracts with Huntingdon
Life Sciences (HLS), a company that            New Jersey — Required all garments containing real fur to
conducts drug-safety tests using ani-          be labeled with the species of animal and its country of origin.
mals. United Kingdom-based HLS has
a U.S. facility in Princeton, N.J., and        Oregon — Joined Louisiana, Washington and Virginia in
the company’s workers have been                limiting the size of puppy mills.
prosecuted in the past for animal
cruelty; in an incident caught on tape         Pennsylvania — Passed legislation to prohibit some of
by an animal activist who’d infiltrated        the more painful and unsafe surgical procedures commonly
an HLS facility, a worker laughed as           performed on dogs in puppy mills.
he repeatedly punched a puppy in
the snout. 11                                 Source: “2009: A Record-Breaking Year of State Victories,” Humane Society of the
    In November, University of Min-           United States, December 2009
nesota police increased security
around the Minneapolis home of Dick          death in the pursuit of knowledge that     tests now in anticipation of such an
Bianco, an associate professor of            may or may not be very useful.             enterprise is in no way justified,” the
surgery, who is helping to launch a              For example, the Physicians Com-       group says. 13
national campaign to increase pub-           mittee for Responsible Medicine, which        But advocates of animal research
lic support for medical research             promotes ethical research and gener-       argue that many benefits have flowed
using animals. The police acted after        ally opposes animal testing, is circu-     and continue to flow from biomedical
animal advocate Camille Marino,              lating a petition to stop new radiation    research using animals.
founder of the Negotiation Is Over           studies planned by the National Aero-         “If you’re healthy, then you say, ‘Let’s
Web site, posted Bianco’s photo and          nautics and Space Administration.          not use any animals,’ ” says Frankie
contact information, along with the state-       In the studies, squirrel monkeys       Trull, founder and president of the
ment that “abusers need to understand        would be dosed with radiation to           Washington-based Foundation for Bio-
that their unethical behaviors entail        study potential effects of long-distance   medical Research, which disseminates
tangible consequences.” 12                   space travel. But “interplanetary human    information in support of animal re-
    Many animal-welfare advocates argue      travel is, at best, a highly speculative   search. But out of the last 40 Nobel
that much of today’s animal research         aim for the foreseeable future,” and       prizes in medicine, 32 were awarded
subjects animals to pain, distress and       “to put animals through radiation          for work that included animal research.



www.cqresearcher.com                                                                               Jan. 8, 2010                  5
ANIMAL RIGHTS
“The Nobel Committee certainly be-              we require animals to suffer intensely         related to citizenship, for example,
lieves that animal research is produc-          for human benefit all the time, wrote          says Kenneth Shapiro, executive di-
ing useful knowledge,” she says.                Hugh LaFollette, an ethics professor           rector of the Animals and Society In-
    As lawmakers, scientists, farmers and       at the University of South Florida, in         stitute, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based think
animal-welfare advocates battle over            St. Petersburg, and Niall Shanks, a pro-       tank on animal issues. What “animal
what limits to place on human use of            fessor of history and the philosophy of        rights” means to most animal-protection
animals, here are some of the ques-             science at Wichita State University, in        advocates is that “animals have interests,
tions being asked:                              Kansas. “Each year in the United States        and we don’t want to screw them.
                                                nearly 70 million mammals . . . are ex-        Most of the people in the established
Do animals have rights?                         pected to make the ultimate sacrifice”         movement don’t consider themselves
   Humans have used animals through-            in laboratories “to benefit . . . humans.      ‘rightists’ in that sense. They’re trying
out history for food, sport, tasks like haul-   . . . “This clashes with the moral pre-        to make things better.”
ing and plowing and scientific experi-          sumption against inflicting suffering on           But some analysts from the bio-
mentation, and most people have been            one creature . . . to benefit some other       medical-research community and the
comfortable with using animals, even            creature.” 15                                  agriculture industry say that not just
when they suffer and die in the process.            “If it would be absurd to give ani-        some but most animal-protection ad-
Nevertheless, a persistent minority has         mals the right to vote, it would be no         vocates actually do favor granting an-
long questioned whether animals may             less absurd to give that right to infants      imals rights so broad that, if granted,
have a right to be treated with concern         or to severely retarded human beings.          those rights would effectively end all
for their comfort and welfare.                  Yet we still give equal consideration to       human use of animals.
   “To my mind, we shouldn’t be think-          their interests,” said Princeton Univer-           The Humane Society of the United
ing of monkeys as commodities, dis-             sity philosophy professor Peter Singer,        States has an “extremist” agenda with
posable resources” that can be the ob-          author of the 1975 book, Animal Lib-           regard to animal rights, although the
ject of distressing experimentation, for        eration, which inspired much of the            public who support the group with
example, says Mark Bernstein, a pro-            modern animal-advocacy movement.               donations generally don’t realize this,
fessor of philosophy and ethics at Pur-         “We don’t raise them for food in over-         says Trull at the Foundation for Bio-
due University in West Lafayette, Ind.          crowded sheds or test household clean-         medical Research. “On their Web site
“Just by virtue of their sentience, their       ers on them. . . . But we do these             they say they ultimately want to elim-
capacity to suffer, they should have the        things to non-human animals who show           inate all use of animals in research,”
minimal right to not suffer,” he says.          greater abilities in reasoning than these      an extreme animal-rights position,
“We don’t treat compromised human               humans . . . because we have a prej-           Trull says.
beings” — such as people with severe            udice in favor of the view that all hu-            “The possession of rights presup-
cognitive disabilities —“that way.”             mans are somehow infinitely more valu-         poses a moral status not attained by
   Chickens, for example, “clearly have         able than any animal.” 16                      the vast majority of living things,” said
interests, preferences and desires and              Critics of animal-protection activists     University of Michigan professor of phi-
are able to act to satisfy their interests      overinterpret the word “rights,” as it’s       losophy Carl Cohen. “We must not
and preferences,” a fact that should            used by most animal-welfare advo-              infer . . . that a live being has, sim-
give them at least some “right” to moral        cates, some analysts argue.                    ply in being alive, a ‘right’ to its life.
consideration by humans, with whom                  The idea of a rights-based philoso-        The assertion that all animals, only be-
they share those traits, said Gary L.           phy of animal protection is that “in virtue    cause they are alive and have inter-
Francione, a professor of law at the            of some of the properties animals have”        ests, also possess the ‘right to life’ is
Rutgers University School of Law in             — notably “sentience,” the ability to be       an abuse of that phrase, and wholly
Newark, N.J. “When we kill these non-           aware of feelings, such as pain —              without warrant.” 17
humans, we frustrate their ability to            “animals deserve some minimal rights,”            Most people intuitively understand
enjoy the satisfaction of their interests,      says Bernstein. To some critics the phrase     that animals cannot have “rights” in
preferences and desires — just as we            “animal rights” calls up visions of “giv-      anything like the way humans do,
do when we kill humans.” 14                     ing pigs driver’s licenses,” but “that’s not   said Jan Narveson, a professor of
   “Although it is noble” for a human           the idea. It’s that animals, by virtue of      philosophy at Canada’s University of
“to undergo a painful bone marrow               their ability to feel, are not things to be    Waterloo. For example, “most peo-
transplant to save the life of a stranger,      tortured.”                                     ple think that if we could find a
we think it would be wrong to require               “You’re not talking about rights in        cure for cancer by performing on
them to undergo that procedure,” but            the philosophical sense” of a civil right                                Continued on p. 8




6       CQ Researcher
More Philosophers Argue for Animal Protection
 Recent efforts are changing the face of the movement.

          cademic philosophers have played a “major role” in the animals deserve kind and ethical treatment because they have

 A        development and growth of the animal-welfare move- inherent value in their own right and qualities — such as at
          ment, says Bernard Unti, a historian who is senior poli- least rudimentary consciousness — that entitle them to kind
 cy adviser to the chief executive officer of the Humane Society treatment because of the effect of cruelty on them, not because
 of the United States.                                                practicing cruelty has a negative effect on the human soul.
     Philosophers and theologians dating back at least to the an-         The philosophical shift reflects an ever-larger body of sci-
 cient Greeks have sought a logical basis for the widespread entific knowledge demonstrating that humans are not as dif-
 feeling that humans owe special consideration to the welfare ferent from animals as once was thought, says Kenneth Shapiro,
 of animals, says Mark Bernstein, a professor of philosophy and executive director of the Animals and Society Institute, a think
 ethics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.                  tank on animal issues in Ann Arbor, Mich.
     “Virtue ethics,” a philosophical idea from the days of Aris-         In the past, before the study of evolution and genetics re-
 totle, basically argues that humans should refrain from animal vealed the links and similarities among species, “there was a
 cruelty not really for the animals’ sake                                                     categorical distinction made between hu-
 but to preserve one’s own good char-                                                         mans and animals” by most people, in-




                                                                                          Time Life Pictures/Getty Images/Michael Goldman
 acter, Bernstein says.                                                                       cluding philosophers, Shapiro says. “That
     Similarly, the 18th-century German                                                       mistaken categorical divide has been an
 philosopher Immanuel Kant argued                                                             underlying core problem that allows an-
 that the treatment of animals matters                                                        imals to become mere property” rather
 mainly because it influences the way                                                         than independent beings with feelings
 we treat people. According to Kant,                                                          and interests of their own, he says. Given
 “the reason we should show kind-                                                             new scientific knowledge today, howev-
 ness to an old and faithful dog is that                                                      er, philosophers and the rest of us “have
 doing otherwise could cause us to                                                            to reexamine animals in the same way
 harden our hearts toward people,”                                                            we examined the assumptions” from a
 Bernstein says.                                                                              century ago that women, children and
     Especially since the 1970s, how-                                                         slaves, for example, could rightly be con-
 ever, a growing number of philoso-                                                           sidered men’s property to do with as
 phers and theologians have advanced                                                          they would, he says.
 arguments for why animal welfare                                                                  The philosophical literature on con-
 deserves human attention, and the                                                            temporary animal ethics “makes much
                                                University of Arizona scientist Irene
 growth in the number of academic              Pepperberg spent 15 years studying the         more use of scientific literature today
 theorists on the matter has also           intelligence of Alex, an African gray parrot.     than even 10 years ago,” Bernstein says.
 helped to change the face of the                                                             While a significant number of ethicists
 movement, says Unti.                                                                         still argue that animals themselves don’t
     The influx of philosophers arguing that concerns over ani- have the inherent moral worth that requires humans to take
 mal welfare have a rational basis “appealed to people who special care of their welfare, “philosophical thinking generally
 weren’t comfortable with the ‘sentimental’ nature of many ear- has been moving in a much more animal-friendly direction” in
 lier appeals for animal protection,” Unti says.                      the past 10 to 15 years, partly driven by a changing scientific
     “So these philosophers were a necessary precursor to the understanding, he says.
 modern movement, helping to bring a professional cadre” of               For example, as evolution becomes more established as a
 lawyers, veterinarians and other educated professionals — as mainstream belief, “more people are recognizing that animals
 well as a growing number of men — into the ranks of ani- are continuous with human beings” in a chain of biological con-
 mal activists, he says. “When somebody presents a rational nection from simpler to more complex beings, and that animals
 channel” for a belief, “it helps some people to make sense of are similar to people “in the most basic way — that they enjoy
 their emotions” and to embrace animal-rights activism, for ex- and suffer through experiences,” Bernstein says. “This means we
 ample, because they become convinced that “these beliefs are should treat them as ends rather than as means,” as most ethical
 not irrational.”                                                     philosophies enjoin us to treat humans, he says.
     Unlike many earlier philosophers who speculated about an-
 imal welfare, more thinkers in recent decades have argued that                                                 — Marcia Clemmitt




www.cqresearcher.com                                                                                                                        Jan. 8, 2010   7
ANIMAL RIGHTS
                                                                                    a category only applicable to beings
 Many Nobel Laureates Use Animal Testing                                            like ourselves.” 18
 Many recent Nobel Prize winners in the sciences have relied on
                                                                                    Are we doing enough to protect
 animal testing in some capacity. Many have turned to mice, while                   farm animals?
 others have studied live sheep, pigs, frogs and dogs. Scientists widely                Animal-protection activists in the
 contend that animal research remains essential to scientific and                    United States have sought, and helped
 medical progress.                                                                  enact, legislation to improve the wel-
                                                                                    fare of farm animals since the 19th
                        Select Nobel Laureates                                      century. Many activists argue, howev-
                      Whose Work Involved Animals                                   er, that more regulation is needed be-
                                                                                    cause, as a largely meat-eating soci-
    Year Laureates          Animal      Nature of discovery                         ety, we find it all too easy to ignore
         involved            used                                                   the harsh conditions that exist on farms,
                                                                                    especially as large factory farms be-
    2007 Capecchi,        Mouse         Discovery of principles for introducing     come the norm.
         Evans,                         specific gene modifications in mice by            At a hog farm that former Bush
         Smithies                       the use of embryonic stem cells             aide Scully visited, “to maximize the
    2005 Marshall,        Gerbil        Discovery of bacterium that leads to        use of space and minimize the need
         Warren                         gastritis and peptic ulcer disease          for care, the . . . 400-to-500-pound
    2000 Carlsson,        Mouse,      Signal transduction in the nervous            mammals are trapped without relief
         Greengard,       Guinea pig, system                                        inside iron crates seven feet long and
         Kandel           sea slug                                                  22 inches wide,” where they “chew
                                                                                    maniacally on bars and chains, as for-
    1998 Furchgott,       Rabbit        Nitric oxide as signaling molecule in       aging animals will do when denied
         Ignarro,                       cardiovascular system                       straw . . . or else just lie there like
         Murad                                                                      broken beings,” wrote Scully. “The
    1991 Neher,           Frog          Chemical communication between              spirit of the place would be familiar”
         Sakmann                        cells                                       to police who raid outlawed “puppy
    1990 Murray,          Dog           Organ transplantation techniques            mills,” but, in the case of farm ani-
         Thomas                                                                     mals, in most states “the law prohibits
    1989 Varmus,          Chicken       Viral origin of some cancer-causing         none of it.” 19
         Bishop                         genes                                           The meat-eating public “is isolated
                                                                                    from the negative consequences” of
    1981 Sperry,          Cat,          Processing of visual information by the     our treatment of farm animals “through
         Hubel,           monkey        brain                                       our language and the packaging of
         Wiesel                                                                     animal products, both of which de-
    1979 Cormack,         Pig           Development of computer-assisted            emphasize the fact that we are involved
         Hounsfield                      tomography                                  in the abuse of living, sentient crea-
    1977 Guilemin,        Sheep, pig    Hypothalamic hormones, chemicals            tures,” wrote Emory University profes-
         Schally,                       that help regulate some vital body          sor of sociology Robert Agnew. “We
         Yalow                          processes                                   do not eat ‘cows’ or ‘pigs,’ but rather
                                                                                    ‘hamburgers’ and ‘pork chops.” Adver-
    Source: Foundation for Biomedical Research                                      tising and other media often give the
                                                                                    impression that “most farm animals live
Continued from p. 6                         to something important for us,” and     contented lives in idyllic settings.” 20
thousands of monkeys in ways that           “when philosophers . . . deny this          “Most people know very little about
are extremely painful and later fatal       . . . they go against normal intu-      how animals are treated in agriculture,
to the monkeys, we should still go          itions. . . . We rightly outlaw slav-   and they end up supporting practices,
right ahead,” Narveson said. “Most          ery.” However, “since we don’t think    like the worst kind of factory farming,
people think animal experimentation         animals are people, we don’t think      that they would (if fully informed) view
permissible, so long as it could lead       of our use of them as ‘enslavement,’    as morally unacceptable,” according to



8        CQ Researcher
the Project on Ani-                                                                                         “The livestock indus-
mal Treatment at the                                                                                    try has a long history
University of Chica-                                                                                    of supporting animal
go Law School. 21                                                                                       welfare,” but that’s not
    Congress has                                                                                        the same as the “animal-
done little to devel-                                                                                   rights” agenda that
op regulations for                                                                                      animal-advocacy groups
protecting farm ani-                                                                                    push, so animal activists




                                                                                                    U.S. Department of Agriculture
mals, and the De-                                                                                       continue to complain,
partment of Agricul-                                                                                    says former Rep. Char-
ture (USDA) also has                                                                                    lie Stenholm, D-Texas,
“grown very close to                                                                                    now a senior policy ad-
the industry,” creat-                                                                                   viser for agricultural is-
ing “an unregulated                                                                                     sues at a Washington-
situation where there                                                                                   based law and lobbying
are basically no pro-                                                                                   firm. “These activist
tections for farm an-                                                                                   groups use the platform
imals at the federal        Gestation crates severely restrict the movement of female pigs during       of animal rights to ad-
level in production          pregnancy. State laws are beginning to regulate treatment of farm          vocate for regulations so
agriculture,” accord-       animals, but federal laws apply only to the transport and slaughter of      strict they will put ani-
                            farm animals. The nation’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Farms,
ing to Wayne Pacelle,         announced it will begin phasing out gestation crates on its farms.        mal agriculture out of
CEO of the Humane                                                                                       business, which is their
Society.                                                                                                real goal.”
    Animal-welfare groups are not call- said Steve Kopperud, senior vice                    “The greatest risk right now is the
ing for unreasonable or illogical rules, president of the Washington lobby- possibility that Congress will take
says Pacelle.                               ing and communications firm Policy seriously the advice of people who
    For example, one issue concerns the Directions, which specializes in farm have sworn never to eat meat in
“gestation crates” in which breeding and food issues. 22                                 crafting policy that will damage
sows are housed for much of their lives.       Farm-industry groups “are com- farming,” David Martosoko, director
“They may endure seven, eight, nine, mitted to working with USDA to help of research for the food-industry-
10 successive pregnancies in a two-foot their members comply” with animal- backed advocacy group Center for
by seven-foot cage in which they can- welfare rules, said Jeremy Russell, di- Consumer Freedom, told a House
not turn around,” he says. “These are rector of communications and gov- panel in 2007. 25
curious animals that like to root around ernment relations for the National
in the mud,” and several states have Meat Association. “No discussion of Is animal research necessary to
banned the crates, and at least one large animal welfare can be complete achieve medical progress?
hog company, Smithfield, has voluntarily without a mention of the tremendous                Research using live animals has
agreed to phase them out, says Pacelle. improvements that have been made long been a staple both of basic-
The phase-out should and could be over the years. . . . The industry’s science laboratories — where bio-
industrywide, however, he says.             sledgehammer days are long gone,” medical scientists seek knowledge
    But other analysts argue that calls and “federal inspectors, who are in about how living beings function —
for stricter controls on factory-farm packing plants continuously, enforce” and toxicology labs, where scientists
practices are really veiled calls for an the requirements of the Humane use live animals to test whether cos-
end to meat eating altogether.              Slaughter Act of 1957. 23                    metics, radiation, industrial chemicals
    “When you peel away the rhetoric           Furthermore, the association “en- and other environmental exposures
and posturing of all animal-rights courages plants to do everything are safe for humans.
groups, the bottom line is the same: possible to create calm, low-stress at-                Today, toxicology laboratories are
‘You have no right to be in business. mospheres that work with — rather beginning a large-scale phase-out of
Animals should not be used for food. than against — animals’ natural in- animal testing over the next few
We’ll continue to fight to make it un- stincts,” said Russell. The U.S. meat decades. In the biomedical science
popular or uneconomical to be in industry “has embraced voluntary arena, however, debate rages over
the livestock and poultry business,’ ” humane handling” programs. 24                     whether live-animal research contributes



www.cqresearcher.com                                                                               Jan. 8, 2010                      9
ANIMAL RIGHTS
enough to human welfare to justify           out in humans, wrote Wichita State’s           developing a neural prosthesis that
animals’ suffering and death.                Shanks and Ray and Jean Greek, au-             could allow a blind person to see
    Biomedical scientists’ zeal to contin-   thors of Sacred Cows and Golden Geese:         again by means of a head-mounted
ue live-animal research “is all about get-   The Human Cost of Experiments on An-           camera whose images would stimu-
ting grant money, not about helping peo-     imals. In the case of the drug thalido-        late the brain directly, bypassing dam-
ple,” says Jerry Vlasak, a Los Angeles       mide — a sedative prescribed to preg-          aged eyes, says Ringach.
surgeon and leader of the North Amer-        nant women in the 1950s and ’60s that              “It takes years and years to devel-
ican Animal Liberation Press Office.         led to the birth of children without limbs     op those studies” on monkeys, “and
    For example, a vision researcher at      — animal tests conducted after the human       my work is at least partly gone,” Ringach
UCLA has pursued research involving          birth defects were discovered showed           says. “Now I work with humans, who
sensors placed on the eyeballs of rhesus     that the drug’s health effects varied          are also animals but who can sign a
monkeys “for 19 years,” repeatedly being     widely among animal species. 26                piece of paper and say they agree.
awarded grant renewals to continue the           Some species showed none of the            The research I’m doing with humans
project, “just because he says he’s on       negative effects that thalidomide caused       is completely different from what I
the verge of a great discovery,” which       in humans, while others were affect-           was doing before” and won’t provide
so far hasn’t come, despite nearly two       ed but to a far lesser degree than hu-         answers to some key questions that
decades of suffering on the part of the      mans. “All the animals whose offspring         must be answered before an actual vi-
monkeys, says Vlasak.                        exhibited” the limbless condition that         sual prosthesis could be developed.
    From time to time, animal experi-        afflicted human babies “did so only                “We need to figure out how to plant
menters “have stumbled on something          after being given doses 25-150 times           a device in the brain that could be in
useful,” but current experiments “aren’t     the human dose,” wrote Shanks and              there for years and years,” and how elec-
coming up with anything of actual value”     the Greeks. Thus, biomedical scientists’       tricity in such a device would interact
for health, since basic science, by defin-   hypothesis that animal research is “pre-       with the brain’s own electrical signals
ition, aims at generating data and infor-    dictive for humans is wrong.” 27               and with brain tissue, he says. “There’s
mation, without reference to whether that        But animal-rights advocates are mere-      no way you can actually develop these
information will be useful or not, says      ly pitting “the simple lie” that animals are   things” using only human subjects.
Vlasak. Nevertheless, the government         being harmed in labs without purpose           “We’re trying to test how nature works,”
funds basic-science experimentation on       against “the complex truth” that experi-       and in some cases there is literally no
live animals to the tune of hundreds of      mentation on live animals has yielded a        way to gain that knowledge without ob-
millions of dollars annually, he says. The   great deal of valuable scientific knowl-       serving whole animals, Ringach says.
money would be better used expanding         edge, says Jacquie Calnan, president               Particularly in an aging society, “one
insurance coverage to more Americans         of the biomedical-research advocacy            of the most explosive areas of science
— 46,000 of whom die prematurely             group Americans for Medical Progress.          is neuroscience,” with the public greatly
every year because of lack of care —             Animal studies have been crucial in        interested in finding answers to neuro-
and retooling medical practice to use al-    developing treatments for many con-            logical diseases of aging such as Parkin-
ready proven treatments that aren’t being    ditions, says Trull of the Foundation          son’s and Alzheimer’s, says Trull. Study-
used, he says.                               for Biomedical Research. They are              ing live non-human primates is “the only
    “Half the drugs that test as safe on     “critical to hepatitis work,” for exam-        way” to learn about this, she says.
animals turn out to not work or be           ple, while both cataract surgeries and             When it comes to the toxicology lab,
safe in people, so you might as well         joint replacement were both pioneered          which has traditionally used millions of
flip a coin” as test drugs initially on      in animals, Trull says.                        mostly small animals to determine the
animals, Vlasak says.                            Dario Ringach, a professor of neuro-       toxicity of chemical substances like drugs
    Many opponents of live-animal re-        biology and psychology at the Uni-             and cosmetics, scientists now generally
search argue that studies demonstrating      versity of California, Los Angeles             agree with animal-welfare advocates that
that treatments are safe or effective in     (UCLA), stopped his primate research           animal testing should be phased out.
animals often don’t pan out when the         after animal activists threatened his              “The main crystallizing event” for that
same treatments are tried in human be-       home, terrorizing his young children,          trend was a report issued by the Na-
ings, making the research far less ef-       several years ago. Ringach describes           tional Academy of Sciences in 2007 that
fective in advancing actual medical          his monkey studies as an examination           “articulated a vision that 20 years down
knowledge than scientists claim.             of “the basic way that the brain process-      the line we will get to the point where
    Animal studies do not reliably pre-      es information from the eyes” that might       we use no or virtually no animals” to
dict how medical treatments will pan         have served as preliminary work for                                      Continued on p. 12




10       CQ Researcher
Chronology
                                      the Naval Weapons Center in            2008
1950s-1970s
Federal laws are enacted to
                                      China Lake, Calif., and pays to        Federal agents shut down a Cali-
                                      relocate the animals. . . . PETA       fornia slaughterhouse after under-
protect some farm animals,            co-founder Alex Pacheco secretly       cover video shows workers abusing
pets and laboratory animals.          photographs filthy conditions for      sick cattle, but a government audit
                                      monkeys at Institute of Behavioral     finds no evidence that slaughter-
1954                                  Research in Silver Spring, Md.         house inspection in the nation is
Humane Society of the United States                                          inadequate. . . . California ballot
is founded to apply advocacy tech-    1985                                   initiative bans confinement of veal
niques developed by local animal-     Congress amends AWA to require         calves, hens and brood sows in
welfare groups to national issues.    animal-research labs to provide        cages that don’t allow them to turn
                                      exercise for dogs and companion-       freely, lie down, stand up and ex-
1958                                  ship for nonhuman primates, as         tend their limbs.
Federal Humane Slaughter Act re-      well as mental stimulation like
quires mammals killed for food to     toys and opportunities to forage       2009
be completely stunned before          for food.                              China contemplates its first ani-
being dismembered.                                                           mal-welfare law, requiring regis-
                                                       •                     tration and vaccination of pets
1966                                                                         and banning pet maltreatment. . . .
Allegations that pet dogs are being                                          Ohio voters back an agriculture
kidnapped for research spark en-
actment of federal Animal Welfare
                                      2000s             State laws and
                                      ballot initiatives target animal
                                                                             industry-sponsored constitutional
                                                                             amendment barring legislators
Act (AWA), requiring humane treat-    cruelty on farms.                      and voters from enacting animal-
ment by dealers who sell dogs                                                welfare rules that apply to farms.
and cats to laboratories.             2000                                   . . . National retailer J.C. Penney
                                      After a PETA hidden-camera inves-      stops selling fur products, after
1976                                  tigation, workers at a North Caroli-   years of protests by activists. . . .
AWA is expanded to cover animal       na hog farm receive the first-ever     U.S. biomedical scientists join
fighting.                             felony convictions handed out for      with Pro-Test, a United Kingdom-
                                      farm abuses, including skinning        based group, to seek public sup-
1979                                  animals alive and sawing off the       port for animal research. . . .
San Francisco attorney Joyce Tis-     legs of a conscious animal.            Ban on animal testing for cos-
chler founds Animal Legal Defense                                            metics takes effect in European
Fund (ALDF).                          2005                                   Union. . . . NFL quarterback
                                      World Organization for Animal          Michael Vick is signed by
                •                     Health adopts guidelines for the       Philadelphia Eagles after serving
                                      humane transport and slaughter of      18 months in prison on a 2007
                                      food animals.                          conviction for operating a dog-
1980s-1990s
Animal-protection advocates
                                                                             fighting ring; he vows to work
                                                                             with the Humane Society to edu-
                                      2006
spar with biomedical researchers      Federal Animal Enterprise Terror-      cate the public about the cruelty
over study of live animals.           ism Act sets tough penalties for       of animal fighting. . . Several
                                      activists who commit or threaten       states pass tough new animal-
1980                                  violence against animal-using orga-    protection laws: amputation of
PETA — People for the Ethical         nizations, such as factory and fur     dairy cows’ tails banned (Califor-
Treatment of Animals — is founded     farms and university research labs.    nia); felonies enacted for animal
in Norfolk, Va.                                                              cruelty (Arkansas) and cockfighting
                                      2007                                   (Kansas); larger cages required for
1981                                  Congress makes violation of AWA        breed sows and veal calves
Settling a case brought by ALDF,      animal-fighting provisions a felony    (Maine); 24-hour-a-day tethering
the Navy halts the planned slaugh-    punishable by up to three years        of dogs and short chains and
ter of thousands of wild burros at    in prison.                             choke collars banned (Nevada).



www.cqresearcher.com                                                                  Jan. 8, 2010             11
ANIMAL RIGHTS

 Violent Animal Activists in the Minority
 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act set tough penalties.
          he 2000s saw an uptick in activist violence directed at         as possible — fruit flies, for example, rather than mice —

 T        biomedical researchers who use live animals in experi-
          ments, with the highest-profile incidents occurring at the
 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
                                                                           “while still making the research relevant” to humans, and also
                                                                          “to minimize the number of animals used,” he says.
                                                                               Today, research on large animals, especially, is only under-
     Some of the activists adopted a tactic regularly used by anti-       taken in order to study the most important biological systems,
 abortion activists — posting the names, photos and contact in-           Ringach says. “Competition for grant funds is extremely diffi-
 formation of scientists on the Internet, enabling sympathizers           cult,” with only about 10 percent of grants funded, so scien-
 to anonymously plan protests and harass specific scientists.             tists who get funding are almost by definition working on high-
     In the early 2000s, a group of UCLA students published con-          priority science, whose ultimate value for human health makes
 tact information for several university personnel, including Dario       it vital. “If you’re proposing to look at Botox, those studies
 Ringach, a UCLA professor of neurobiology and psychology who             aren’t going to get funded,” he says.
 formerly conducted vision research on live monkeys. Although                  When Ringach’s monkey lab was in operation, his experi-
 university administrators fairly quickly dissuaded the student group     mental animals were treated humanely, he says. “What people
 from continuing the postings, by that time activists outside the         would have seen in the lab is what you would see in a human
 university had the information, Ringach says.                            surgery suite, an animal anesthetized, with his skin opened,
     “People showed up at our home at night, wearing ski masks,           and electrodes in the brain. I can show you the same kind of
 20 to 40 of them, banging on the windows” and vandalizing                thing in an epileptic [human] patient,” he says. The monkey
 property. “My kids” — ages 3 and 6 when the protests began               would receive “very similar drugs and monitoring on the table”
 — “were crying every night,” says Ringach, who abandoned                 to what a human would receive. “But if you don’t understand
 his research in 2006. “Their goal was to terrorize my family,            what’s happening” in those surgeries — animal or human —
 and they succeeded.”                                                       “the sights will shock you,” he says.
     Between 2006 and 2008 violence and threats escalated                      Outside the surgical suite, monkeys were housed in pairs
 against other UCLA employees who worked with animals. Three              and in groups, in accordance with their being “very social an-
 incendiary devices were left near faculty homes, and a re-               imals,” Ringach says. They had toys to play with and TV to
 searcher received a package rigged with razor blades. 1                  watch because, like all primates, they need mental stimulation,
     In 2009, the university won a court injunction prohibiting           a need that the 1985 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) amendments
 three animal-rights groups and five individuals from coming              codified into a legal requirement for labs, Ringach says.
 within 50 feet of the residences of UCLA scientists who do an-                But some animal activists say that the AWA rules are a smoke-
 imal research or posting personal information about UCLA per-            screen behind which the inherent intolerable cruelty of animal
 sonnel on the Web. 2                                                     research lurks. “Anyone knowledgeable considers the Animal
     Despite activists’ complaint that all animal research is cruel and   Welfare Act completely useless,” says Jerry Vlasak, a Los Angeles-
 unjustified, the vast majority of American biomedical researchers        based surgeon and a leader of the activist group North Ameri-
 who experiment on live animals today take animals’ welfare into          can Animal Liberation Press Office. “It doesn’t cover farm ani-
 account, even as they pursue experiments vital for developing            mals or rodents, and even for those animals that it does cover
 knowledge of how living bodies function, Ringach argues.                 there are exceptions” for occasions when it’s considered ac-
     “The notion that people walk into a lab and say, ‘Hey, today         ceptable to impose pain and suffering in the lab, he says.
 I’m going to blowtorch a monkey’ is just nonsense.” For one                   In 2004, Vlasak made international headlines when he declared,
 thing, federal rules require scientists to use as simple a species       “I don’t think you’d have to kill too many [researchers]” to end


Continued from p. 10                             methods for drugs and chemicals that
test the toxicity of chemicals and other
products, says Paul Locke, an associate
professor of environmental health sci-
                                                 use human cells grown in the lab rather
                                                 than live animals.
                                                    “Animal testing is time-consuming,
                                                                                                 BACKGROUND
ences at the Johns Hopkins University            expensive and doesn’t always relate to
Bloomberg School of Public Health.               what is toxic in humans,” and “this                 Early Farm Laws
   Under a new government program                really has the potential to revolutionize
                                                 the way toxic chemicals are identified,”           hilosophers as far back as Aris-
launched in the report’s wake, several
federal agencies will cooperate to re-
search and develop toxicity-testing
                                                 said Francis Collins, director of the Na-
                                                 tional Institutes of Health (NIH). 28
                                                                                                 P  totle have mused on whether
                                                                                                 humans have an ethical responsibility



12        CQ Researcher
AFP/Getty Images/India Today Group/Subir Halder
 animal research. “I think for                                                                        penalties for threats and vio-
 five lives, 10 lives, 15 human                                                                       lent acts against academic or
 lives, we could save a million,                                                                      commercial organizations that
 2 million, 10 million non-                                                                           use or sell animals or animal
 human lives.” 3                                                                                      products. The law “has increased
     He continues to stand by                                                                         communication among law
 that principle.                                                                                      enforcement agencies” about
     In recent years, “many                                                                           animal-rights protesters and
 have come to view the strug-                                                                         helped head off more actions
 gle for animal liberation as                                                                         like the ones against UCLA,
 being on a par with other                                                                            says Frankie Trull, founder and
 liberation struggles,” such as      Activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals       president of the Washington-
 the fights to end apartheid         (PETA), their bodies painted as monkeys, protest against         based Foundation for Bio-
 in South Africa and slavery          animal research in New Delhi, India, on Nov. 25, 2009.          medical Research.
 in the United States, says                                                                               But Vlasak says AETA was
 Vlasak. In history “no oppressors have ever given in without a a sign that animal-using groups are beginning to understand
 struggle,” with the result that a wide variety of tactics, including that there is growing public pressure for them to change their
 “civil disobedience and acts of violence,” have been part of all ways, not just from activists who threaten violence but from
 liberation battles when the occasion demands it, he says.            the public at large, who increasingly express interest in ani-
     While peaceful protests, legal strategies and legislative ad- mal welfare in polls. “Any time you see an oppressor pass
 vocacy have a place, no liberation struggle totally committed laws, your action is having an effect,” he says.
 to nonviolence could succeed, Vlasak says. “Martin Luther King           Most animal-protection supporters, however, take pains to
 and the peaceful changes that he made would have gotten distance themselves from any activism that involves harassment
 nowhere unless the oppressors knew that the alternative to or violence. “It’s a distortion” to point to the actions of a few ex-
 dealing with him was to deal with” activists who were willing tremists, such as the UCLA protesters, as a sign that the animal-
 to commit violence, such as the Black Panther Party.                 advocacy movement as a whole is extreme, says Kenneth Shapiro,
     Scientists who are targeted by extremists don’t get much executive director of the Animals and Society Institute, an Ann
 support, says Ringach. When he contacted the National Insti- Arbor, Mich.-based think tank. “The movement is very peace-
 tutes of Health — the federal agency that funds most basic ful compared to most liberation movements” and fully accepts
 biomedical research — he was told, “ ‘We’re not really an advo- the need for change to be gradual, he says.
 cacy group.’ When you actually try to talk to the top leadership
 of NIH, the bottom line is that somebody on the appropriations                                               — Marcia Clemmitt
 committee” in Congress may take exception to the agency’s
 championing animal research, which has many foes among the 1 Phil Hampton, “Judge Expands Order to Block Harassment of Researchers,”
 public, and the agency is very reluctant to be vocal in support press release, University of California, Los Angeles, April 22, 2008,
                                                                      http://newsroom.ucla.edu.
 of its grantees, he says.                                            2 Ibid.
     In 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the An- 3 Quoted in Jamie Doward, “Kill Scientists, Says Animal Rights Chief,” The
 imal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), setting substantial new Guardian, July 25, 2004, www.guardian.co.uk.


to treat animals well. It wasn’t until        mon in physiology labs at least                 es cholera did not sicken and die
the 19th century, however, that the           since the 17th century — were help-             but thrived instead. 30
modern animal-welfare movement                ing to expand knowledge of biol-                   “The physiologist is not an ordinary
coalesced into a large-scale public           ogy. In 1879, for example, French               man: he is a scientist possessed and
movement. 29                                  chemist Louis Pasteur discovered                absorbed by the scientific idea he pur-
    Some of the earliest clashes be-          that vaccinating animals with weak-             sues,” wrote French physiologist Claude
tween animal-welfare advocates and            ened disease-causing microbes gave              Bernard. “He does not hear the cries
users of animals involved scien-              them immunity to future infection,              of animals, he does not see their flow-
tists. In 19th-century Europe, ex-            after a flock of chickens he’d in-              ing blood, he sees nothing but his
periments on live animals — com-              jected with the bacteria that caus-             idea, and is aware of nothing but an



www.cqresearcher.com                                                                                                                                   Jan. 8, 2010   13
ANIMAL RIGHTS
                                                                                                                         organism that conceals from him the
                                                                                                                         problem he is seeking to resolve.” 30
                                                                                                                             But while some animal experi-
                                                                                                                         mentation undeniably advanced
                                                                                                                         human knowledge in important ways,
                                                                                                                         many in the public worried about
                                                                                                                         the suffering and death that some
                                                                                                                         researchers, like Bernard, were will-
                                                                                                                         ing to impose on animals to satisfy
                                                                                                                         scientific curiosity.
                                                                                                                             In Bernard’s laboratory “we sacri-
                                                                                                                         ficed daily from one to three dogs,
                                                                                                                         besides rabbits and other animals,
                                                                                                                         and after four months’ experience
                                                                                                                         I am of the opinion that not one




                                                                                    AFP/Getty Images/Steve Helber-Pool
                                                                                                                         of those experiments . . . was jus-
                                                                                                                         tified or necessary,” a retired British
                                                                                                                         Navy officer wrote to a London
                                                                                                                         newspaper of his experience work-
                                                                                                                         ing with Bernard. 32
                                                                                                                             Growing public discomfort with an-
                                                                                                                         imal suffering, in laboratories and else-
                                                                                                                         where, led to the first attempts to
                                                                                                                         squelch abuse by law. In 1810 and
                                                                                                                         1811, England’s lord high chancellor
                                                                                                                         attempted but failed to pass bills gen-
                                                                                                                         erally banning “wanton and malicious
                                                                                                                         cruelty to animals.” 33 In 1822, the
                                                                                                                         British Parliament passed Martin’s Act,
                                                                                                                         outlawing the infliction of unnecessary
                                                                                                                         cruelty or suffering on a few domesti-
                                                                                                                         cated animals — cattle, oxen, horses
                                                                                                                         and sheep. 34
                                                                                                                             In the United States, the earliest
                                                                                                                         animal-protection law was the so-
                                                                                    AFP/Getty Images/Al Bello




                                                                                                                         called 28-hour law, limiting confine-
                                                                                                                         ment of farm animals in a train car
                                                                                                                         while being transported across coun-
                                                                                                                         try, says historian Bernard Unti, se-
                                                                                                                         nior policy adviser and special as-
                                                                                                                         sistant to the Humane Society’s
                                                                                                                         Pacelle.
                                                                                                                             As farming shifted from a local to
           Cruelty Perpetrators in the Spotlight                                                                         a national industry, “people saw with
                                                                                                                         their own eyes the animals going
Then-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to a federal
                                                                                                                         through their towns on the train,” and
dogfighting charge in 2007 and served 18 months in prison (top). He
                                                                                                                         the beasts’ plight inspired sympathy,
now speaks out against cruelty to animals and has returned to
                                                                                                                         says Unti. Enacted in 1873, the law
professional football . Spectators cheer on the opening night of the cockfighting
season at the Coliseo Central De Barranquitas in Barranquitas, Puerto                                                    required that for every 28 hours of
Rico (bottom). Heavy betting occurs before and during the fights. Cockfighting                                           transport, animals must be offloaded
is legal in Puerto Rico but a felony in some states.                                                                     to eat, drink and have at least five
                                                                                                                         hours of rest.



14     CQ Researcher
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?
Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?

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Animal Rights - Is the Treatment of Animals Improving?

  • 1. CQ Animal Rights Researcher Published by CQ Press, a Division of SAGE www.cqresearcher.com Is the treatment of animals improving? he passage of dozens of tough state animal-protection T laws last year reflects growing public interest in animal welfare. Today, many Americans view pets as family members, and some even leave bequests to pets in their wills. Vegetarianism has gone mainstream as people have become concerned about the conditions on factory farms, and many scientists say farm animals have feelings. Fifteen years ago, only 10 of the country’s law schools offered animal-law courses; today about 130 do. At the same time, however, billions of animals are slaughtered for food each year in our meat-eating Rhesus monkeys hug at a research facility in Great Britain, where labs must protect the physical and mental well-being of social animals like monkeys society, and live-animal research is a major tool of biomedicine. by housing them in groups and giving them toys. Similar laws apply to primates and some other research animals in the U.S. The food industry, researchers and others who depend on using and killing animals are fighting back against what they call I overblown concerns about animal rights. Last November, for example, N S THIS REPORT Ohio voters approved an amendment to the state’s constitution THE ISSUES ........................3 barring the legislature from approving any animal-protection laws I CHRONOLOGY....................11 that would apply to farms. D BACKGROUND ....................12 E CURRENT SITUATION ............16 CQ Researcher • Jan. 8, 2010 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE ..........................17 Volume 20, Number 1 • Pages 1-24 OUTLOOK ........................19 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................22 THE NEXT STEP ..................23
  • 2. ANIMAL RIGHTS CQ Researcher Jan. 8, 2010 THE ISSUES SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Volume 20, Number 1 • Do animals have rights? 3 • Are we doing enough 4 Toughest State Laws Make Cruelty a Felony MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin tcolin@cqpress.com to protect the welfare of Five states have the “best” ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch farm animals? animal-protection laws. kkoch@cqpress.com • Is animal research nec- ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost Many New Protection essary to achieve medical progress? 5 Laws Enacted in 2009 STAFF WRITERS: Thomas J. Billitteri, Several states passed more Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel BACKGROUND than 100 laws. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rachel Cox, Sarah Glazer, Alan Greenblatt, Reed Karaim More Philosophers Argue 12 Early Farm Laws 7 for Animal Protection Barbara Mantel, Patrick Marshall, Tom Price, Jennifer Weeks In 1822, Britain outlawed Recent efforts are changing cruelty to some domesti- the face of the movement. DESIGN/PRODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis cated animals. ASSISTANT EDITOR: Darrell Dela Rosa Nobel Laureates Rely on 15 National Advocates 8 Animal Testing FACT-CHECKING: Eugene J. Gabler, Michelle Harris In the 1950s, national Many scientists see animal animal-welfare groups research as vital. were established. Chronology Animals in the Courts 11 16 New laws and legal action Key events since 1954. are bolstering animals’ Violent Animal Activists in legal status. 12 the Minority A Division of SAGE Animal Enterprise Terrorism PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER: Act set tough penalties. John A. Jenkins CURRENT SITUATION At Issue Farm State Fights 17 Is enough being done to Copyright © 2010 CQ Press, a Division of SAGE. 16 States have increasingly protect animals slaughtered SAGE reserves all copyright and other rights herein, unless previously specified in writing. No part of this for food? become key battlegrounds publication may be reproduced electronically or in the fight over animal otherwise, without prior written permission. Un- welfare. FOR FURTHER RESEARCH authorized reproduction or transmission of SAGE copy- righted material is a violation of federal law carrying Congress and Beyond civil fines of up to $100,000. 18 Animal protection is not a 21 For More Information Organizations to contact. CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional high priority for U.S. law- Quarterly Inc. makers, but support is Bibliography growing worldwide. 22 Selected sources used. CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- free paper. Published weekly, except; (Jan. wk. 1) (May wk. 4) (July wks. 1, 2) (Aug. wks. 2, 3) (Nov. The Next Step OUTLOOK 23 Additional articles. wk. 4) and (Dec. wks. 4, 5), by CQ Press, a division of SAGE Publications. Annual full-service subscriptions Citing CQ Researcher start at $803. For pricing, call 1-800-834-9020, ext. 1906. 19 Test Tube Meat? 23 Sample bibliography formats. To purchase a CQ Researcher report in print or elec- Creating meat in a labora- tronic format (PDF), visit www. cqpress.com or call tory may be possible 866-427-7737. Single reports start at $15. Bulk pur- someday. chase discounts and electronic-rights licensing are also available. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CQ Researcher, 2300 N St., N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20037. Cover: Understanding Animal Research/Wellcome Images 2 CQ Researcher
  • 3. Animal Rights BY MARCIA CLEMMITT THE ISSUES he intensifying clash be- Fisher, executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Fed- eration. “Because we experi- enced a little bit of farm life, T tween animal-welfare advocates and animal- using industries heated up we weren’t inclined to ques- tion farming practices or question farmers’ character. last year when President Today, it’s a different story. 4 Understanding Animal Research/Wellcome Images Obama tapped Harvard law “A highly organized and professor Cass R. Sunstein to well-financed operation” con- oversee federal regulations ducted by animal-welfare for American citizens and groups like the Humane So- businesses. ciety of the United States Republican Sen. John (HSUS) “is under way to Cornyn of Texas, who placed convince you that farmers are a “hold” on the nomination to cruel to their animals. It’s prevent a vote, particularly trickery, but effective,” Fisher objected to Sunstein wanting said. If HSUS’s “Washington “to establish legal ‘rights’ for lobbyists and Hollywood livestock, wildstock and pets,” celebrities can convince you as a Cornyn spokesperson told that farmers mistreat their live- Fox News. 1 stock, then maybe you’ll de- In 2004, Sunstein had mand changes on the farm, coauthored a book suggest- Hens are crammed into cages to facilitate egg laying changes that you’ve been ing that animals have legal and gathering. The treatment of chickens and other farm led to believe are about an- rights, and many businesses animals reflects the conflict over animal rights. In imal welfare but in reality that sell animal products, fac- California, for example, beginning in 2015 farms will be are calculated steps to limit required to house veal calves, egg-laying hens and tory farms, universities that pregnant pigs in conditions that allow them to lie down, your access to locally grown, pursue animal research, as stand up and turn around freely. In Ohio, however, safe, affordable food.” 5 well as hunters, feared the voters in 2009 overwhelmingly barred the passage of But others say the picture administration was about to any laws against cruelty to farm animals. Fisher paints of local family embrace an animal-protection agenda. animal ownership is the same as own- farms run on the principle that what’s Sunstein ultimately won confirma- ing slaves and that their struggle to good for animals is good for people tion after assuring senators that he achieve rights for animals is the moral is outdated, since huge “factory” farms “would not take any steps to promote equivalent of the civil rights or women’s now dominate the industry, with the litigation on behalf of animals,” de- suffrage movements. In reality, it is result that concern for profits trumps spite having stated in the past that human life they wish to devalue, low- animal welfare. 6 people should be allowed to bring ering us to a status equal with — or At one time, “I viewed factory farm- lawsuits on behalf of animals that they less than — animals.” 3 ing as one of the lesser problems fac- believe have been treated cruelly. 2 Last year in Ohio, voters over- ing humanity — a small wrong on the Loretta Baughan, editor of Spaniel whelmingly approved a farm industry- grand scale of good and evil,” but “this Journal, is among those who fear con- backed amendment to the state con- view changed as I . . . saw a few typ- cern about animal protection might stitution barring Ohio lawmakers and ical farms up close,” said Matthew trigger new laws and regulations. “Some the voting public from enacting any Scully, a former special assistant to fanatic animal-rights believers advo- laws against animal cruelty applying President George W. Bush, whose cate for ‘non-human’ animals to be to the agriculture industry. 2002 book Dominion: The Power of granted ‘personhood’ and legal rights The measure, Issue 2, “wouldn’t have Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the enabling individuals and groups to take been necessary a few decades ago. Call to Mercy, argues for strong regu- owners to court on behalf of their an- Everyone had grandpas or cousins who lation of the meat industry. 7 imal,” she said. “The whole premise let us climb on their tractors and look “When corporate farmers need behind animal rights is a belief that around in their barns,” said John C. barbed wire around their Family Farms www.cqresearcher.com Jan. 8, 2010 3
  • 4. ANIMAL RIGHTS ing purposes “lie covered in their own Toughest State Laws Make Cruelty a Felony urine and excrement, with broken legs Two states in the West, two in the Midwest and one on the East Coast from trying to escape or just to turn, have the “best” animal-protection laws, according to the Animal covered with festering sores, tumors, ulcers, lesions, or what my guide Legal Defense Fund. The laws include felony penalties for cruelty shrugged off as the routine ‘pus pock- and neglect and strong animal-fighting provisions. The five states ets,’ ” said Scully. with the “worst” ranking do not make extreme neglect a felony, “The usual comforting rejoinder we among other shortcomings. hear — that it’s in the interest of farm- ers to take good care of their animals States With the “Best” Animal Protection Laws — is false,” he said. “Each day, in every Maine* confinement farm in America, you will Wash. Mont. N.D.** Minn. N.H. find cull pens littered with dead or Vt. Wis. dying creatures discarded like trash.” S.D. Ore.* Idaho** Wyo. Mich.* As animal-based food production be- N.Y. Mass. Neb. Iowa R.I. comes a larger and larger industry, ani- Pa. mal welfare is increasingly at odds with Nev. Ill.* Ind. Ohio Conn. Utah Colo. Kan. Mo. W.Va. N.J. farming’s business interests, said Gene Ky.** Va. Del. Baur, president of the farm-animal- Calif.* Tenn. N.C. Md. Ariz. Okla. Ark. protection organization Farm Sanctuary, N.M. S.C. D.C. Miss. Ga. based in Watkins Glen, N.Y. For ex- Ala. La. ** ample, “to produce egg-laying breeds Texas Top tier of hens, hatcheries discard millions of Alaska Middle tier unwanted male chicks every year. . . . Fla. Bottom tier Hawaii** I was at a hatchery once and watched living chicks . . . sent into a manure spreader to be spread on a field as Selected Characteristics of Selected Characteristics of manure.” 9 “Best” Five “Worst” Five Modern animal science continually provides more reasons to pay greater • Felony penalties for cruelty and • No felony penalties for cruelty heed to animal welfare, even to the neglect and neglect point of eliminating human use of an- • Increased penalties for repeat • Inadequate animal-fighting imals altogether, some animal-rights ad- abusers provisions vocates say. Chickens, for example, which • Full range of statutory protections • Inadequate definitions and don’t even qualify for protection under • Strong animal-fighting provisions standards for basic care the U.S. Humane Slaughter Act forbid- • Humane agents have some • No restrictions on animal owner- ship following a conviction ding the cruel killing of conscious an- law-enforcement authority imals, are now known to have com- • No mental health evaluations for * denotes “top” five states offenders plex brains, perceptions and emotions, according to People for the Ethical ** denotes “worst” five states Treatment of Animals (PETA), a large Source: Stephan K. Otto, “2009 State Animal Protection Laws Rankings,” Animal animal-rights group in Norfolk, Va. Legal Defense Fund, December 2009 “While most people are less fa- miliar with pigs, chickens, fish and and Happy Valleys and laws [in at agricultural “duty” of attending to an- cows than they are with dogs and least two states] to prohibit outsiders imals’ welfare, he said. “With no laws cats, animals used for food are every from taking photographs,” as well as to stop it, moral concern surrendered bit as intelligent and able to suffer “laws to exempt farm animals [from] entirely to economic calculation, leav- as the animals who share our homes,” federal and state cruelty statutes, ing no limit to the punishments that says the group on its GoVeg.com something is amiss,” said Scully. As factory farmers could inflict to keep blog. “Pigs can learn to play video factory farms grew larger over the past costs down and profits up.” 8 games,” while chickens have “cul- century, farmers forgot the traditional On hog farms, sows kept for breed- tural knowledge that they pass down 4 CQ Researcher
  • 5. from generation to generation,” care- fully protect their young from dan- Many New Protection Laws Enacted in 2009 ger and communicate with each other Several states enacted a total of 121 new animal-protection laws in using more than 30 separate calls — all evidence that the animals have a 2009, about one-third more than enacted in 2008. Nevada became right to live free of suffering and the 50th state in the country to explicitly ban the possession of dogs brutality imposed by humans who for fighting. Oregon and Pennsylvania enacted laws limiting the raise and slaughter them for food, use of puppy mills. California became the first state to ban the PETA argues. 10 tail docking of cows. While the hottest battleground in animal rights today is farm animals, Select Animal-Rights Legislation by State, 2009 there have also been high-profile clash- es in recent months between animal- California — First state to ban the tail docking of dairy rights activists and another of their tra- cows. ditional foes, biomedical scientists who conduct research on animals. Kansas — Became the 39th state to make cockfighting a Last summer, animal-rights protesters felony. in Europe vandalized the grave of the mother of Daniel Vasella, CEO of Basel, Maine — Became the sixth state to prohibit confinement of Switzerland-based Novartis pharma- farm animals in gestation and veal crates. ceuticals, and may have burned Vasel- Nevada — Became the final state in the nation to ban the la’s Austrian vacation home to protest possession and training of dogs for fighting. Novartis’ contracts with Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), a company that New Jersey — Required all garments containing real fur to conducts drug-safety tests using ani- be labeled with the species of animal and its country of origin. mals. United Kingdom-based HLS has a U.S. facility in Princeton, N.J., and Oregon — Joined Louisiana, Washington and Virginia in the company’s workers have been limiting the size of puppy mills. prosecuted in the past for animal cruelty; in an incident caught on tape Pennsylvania — Passed legislation to prohibit some of by an animal activist who’d infiltrated the more painful and unsafe surgical procedures commonly an HLS facility, a worker laughed as performed on dogs in puppy mills. he repeatedly punched a puppy in the snout. 11 Source: “2009: A Record-Breaking Year of State Victories,” Humane Society of the In November, University of Min- United States, December 2009 nesota police increased security around the Minneapolis home of Dick death in the pursuit of knowledge that tests now in anticipation of such an Bianco, an associate professor of may or may not be very useful. enterprise is in no way justified,” the surgery, who is helping to launch a For example, the Physicians Com- group says. 13 national campaign to increase pub- mittee for Responsible Medicine, which But advocates of animal research lic support for medical research promotes ethical research and gener- argue that many benefits have flowed using animals. The police acted after ally opposes animal testing, is circu- and continue to flow from biomedical animal advocate Camille Marino, lating a petition to stop new radiation research using animals. founder of the Negotiation Is Over studies planned by the National Aero- “If you’re healthy, then you say, ‘Let’s Web site, posted Bianco’s photo and nautics and Space Administration. not use any animals,’ ” says Frankie contact information, along with the state- In the studies, squirrel monkeys Trull, founder and president of the ment that “abusers need to understand would be dosed with radiation to Washington-based Foundation for Bio- that their unethical behaviors entail study potential effects of long-distance medical Research, which disseminates tangible consequences.” 12 space travel. But “interplanetary human information in support of animal re- Many animal-welfare advocates argue travel is, at best, a highly speculative search. But out of the last 40 Nobel that much of today’s animal research aim for the foreseeable future,” and prizes in medicine, 32 were awarded subjects animals to pain, distress and “to put animals through radiation for work that included animal research. www.cqresearcher.com Jan. 8, 2010 5
  • 6. ANIMAL RIGHTS “The Nobel Committee certainly be- we require animals to suffer intensely related to citizenship, for example, lieves that animal research is produc- for human benefit all the time, wrote says Kenneth Shapiro, executive di- ing useful knowledge,” she says. Hugh LaFollette, an ethics professor rector of the Animals and Society In- As lawmakers, scientists, farmers and at the University of South Florida, in stitute, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based think animal-welfare advocates battle over St. Petersburg, and Niall Shanks, a pro- tank on animal issues. What “animal what limits to place on human use of fessor of history and the philosophy of rights” means to most animal-protection animals, here are some of the ques- science at Wichita State University, in advocates is that “animals have interests, tions being asked: Kansas. “Each year in the United States and we don’t want to screw them. nearly 70 million mammals . . . are ex- Most of the people in the established Do animals have rights? pected to make the ultimate sacrifice” movement don’t consider themselves Humans have used animals through- in laboratories “to benefit . . . humans. ‘rightists’ in that sense. They’re trying out history for food, sport, tasks like haul- . . . “This clashes with the moral pre- to make things better.” ing and plowing and scientific experi- sumption against inflicting suffering on But some analysts from the bio- mentation, and most people have been one creature . . . to benefit some other medical-research community and the comfortable with using animals, even creature.” 15 agriculture industry say that not just when they suffer and die in the process. “If it would be absurd to give ani- some but most animal-protection ad- Nevertheless, a persistent minority has mals the right to vote, it would be no vocates actually do favor granting an- long questioned whether animals may less absurd to give that right to infants imals rights so broad that, if granted, have a right to be treated with concern or to severely retarded human beings. those rights would effectively end all for their comfort and welfare. Yet we still give equal consideration to human use of animals. “To my mind, we shouldn’t be think- their interests,” said Princeton Univer- The Humane Society of the United ing of monkeys as commodities, dis- sity philosophy professor Peter Singer, States has an “extremist” agenda with posable resources” that can be the ob- author of the 1975 book, Animal Lib- regard to animal rights, although the ject of distressing experimentation, for eration, which inspired much of the public who support the group with example, says Mark Bernstein, a pro- modern animal-advocacy movement. donations generally don’t realize this, fessor of philosophy and ethics at Pur- “We don’t raise them for food in over- says Trull at the Foundation for Bio- due University in West Lafayette, Ind. crowded sheds or test household clean- medical Research. “On their Web site “Just by virtue of their sentience, their ers on them. . . . But we do these they say they ultimately want to elim- capacity to suffer, they should have the things to non-human animals who show inate all use of animals in research,” minimal right to not suffer,” he says. greater abilities in reasoning than these an extreme animal-rights position, “We don’t treat compromised human humans . . . because we have a prej- Trull says. beings” — such as people with severe udice in favor of the view that all hu- “The possession of rights presup- cognitive disabilities —“that way.” mans are somehow infinitely more valu- poses a moral status not attained by Chickens, for example, “clearly have able than any animal.” 16 the vast majority of living things,” said interests, preferences and desires and Critics of animal-protection activists University of Michigan professor of phi- are able to act to satisfy their interests overinterpret the word “rights,” as it’s losophy Carl Cohen. “We must not and preferences,” a fact that should used by most animal-welfare advo- infer . . . that a live being has, sim- give them at least some “right” to moral cates, some analysts argue. ply in being alive, a ‘right’ to its life. consideration by humans, with whom The idea of a rights-based philoso- The assertion that all animals, only be- they share those traits, said Gary L. phy of animal protection is that “in virtue cause they are alive and have inter- Francione, a professor of law at the of some of the properties animals have” ests, also possess the ‘right to life’ is Rutgers University School of Law in — notably “sentience,” the ability to be an abuse of that phrase, and wholly Newark, N.J. “When we kill these non- aware of feelings, such as pain — without warrant.” 17 humans, we frustrate their ability to “animals deserve some minimal rights,” Most people intuitively understand enjoy the satisfaction of their interests, says Bernstein. To some critics the phrase that animals cannot have “rights” in preferences and desires — just as we “animal rights” calls up visions of “giv- anything like the way humans do, do when we kill humans.” 14 ing pigs driver’s licenses,” but “that’s not said Jan Narveson, a professor of “Although it is noble” for a human the idea. It’s that animals, by virtue of philosophy at Canada’s University of “to undergo a painful bone marrow their ability to feel, are not things to be Waterloo. For example, “most peo- transplant to save the life of a stranger, tortured.” ple think that if we could find a we think it would be wrong to require “You’re not talking about rights in cure for cancer by performing on them to undergo that procedure,” but the philosophical sense” of a civil right Continued on p. 8 6 CQ Researcher
  • 7. More Philosophers Argue for Animal Protection Recent efforts are changing the face of the movement. cademic philosophers have played a “major role” in the animals deserve kind and ethical treatment because they have A development and growth of the animal-welfare move- inherent value in their own right and qualities — such as at ment, says Bernard Unti, a historian who is senior poli- least rudimentary consciousness — that entitle them to kind cy adviser to the chief executive officer of the Humane Society treatment because of the effect of cruelty on them, not because of the United States. practicing cruelty has a negative effect on the human soul. Philosophers and theologians dating back at least to the an- The philosophical shift reflects an ever-larger body of sci- cient Greeks have sought a logical basis for the widespread entific knowledge demonstrating that humans are not as dif- feeling that humans owe special consideration to the welfare ferent from animals as once was thought, says Kenneth Shapiro, of animals, says Mark Bernstein, a professor of philosophy and executive director of the Animals and Society Institute, a think ethics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. tank on animal issues in Ann Arbor, Mich. “Virtue ethics,” a philosophical idea from the days of Aris- In the past, before the study of evolution and genetics re- totle, basically argues that humans should refrain from animal vealed the links and similarities among species, “there was a cruelty not really for the animals’ sake categorical distinction made between hu- but to preserve one’s own good char- mans and animals” by most people, in- Time Life Pictures/Getty Images/Michael Goldman acter, Bernstein says. cluding philosophers, Shapiro says. “That Similarly, the 18th-century German mistaken categorical divide has been an philosopher Immanuel Kant argued underlying core problem that allows an- that the treatment of animals matters imals to become mere property” rather mainly because it influences the way than independent beings with feelings we treat people. According to Kant, and interests of their own, he says. Given “the reason we should show kind- new scientific knowledge today, howev- ness to an old and faithful dog is that er, philosophers and the rest of us “have doing otherwise could cause us to to reexamine animals in the same way harden our hearts toward people,” we examined the assumptions” from a Bernstein says. century ago that women, children and Especially since the 1970s, how- slaves, for example, could rightly be con- ever, a growing number of philoso- sidered men’s property to do with as phers and theologians have advanced they would, he says. arguments for why animal welfare The philosophical literature on con- deserves human attention, and the temporary animal ethics “makes much University of Arizona scientist Irene growth in the number of academic Pepperberg spent 15 years studying the more use of scientific literature today theorists on the matter has also intelligence of Alex, an African gray parrot. than even 10 years ago,” Bernstein says. helped to change the face of the While a significant number of ethicists movement, says Unti. still argue that animals themselves don’t The influx of philosophers arguing that concerns over ani- have the inherent moral worth that requires humans to take mal welfare have a rational basis “appealed to people who special care of their welfare, “philosophical thinking generally weren’t comfortable with the ‘sentimental’ nature of many ear- has been moving in a much more animal-friendly direction” in lier appeals for animal protection,” Unti says. the past 10 to 15 years, partly driven by a changing scientific “So these philosophers were a necessary precursor to the understanding, he says. modern movement, helping to bring a professional cadre” of For example, as evolution becomes more established as a lawyers, veterinarians and other educated professionals — as mainstream belief, “more people are recognizing that animals well as a growing number of men — into the ranks of ani- are continuous with human beings” in a chain of biological con- mal activists, he says. “When somebody presents a rational nection from simpler to more complex beings, and that animals channel” for a belief, “it helps some people to make sense of are similar to people “in the most basic way — that they enjoy their emotions” and to embrace animal-rights activism, for ex- and suffer through experiences,” Bernstein says. “This means we ample, because they become convinced that “these beliefs are should treat them as ends rather than as means,” as most ethical not irrational.” philosophies enjoin us to treat humans, he says. Unlike many earlier philosophers who speculated about an- imal welfare, more thinkers in recent decades have argued that — Marcia Clemmitt www.cqresearcher.com Jan. 8, 2010 7
  • 8. ANIMAL RIGHTS a category only applicable to beings Many Nobel Laureates Use Animal Testing like ourselves.” 18 Many recent Nobel Prize winners in the sciences have relied on Are we doing enough to protect animal testing in some capacity. Many have turned to mice, while farm animals? others have studied live sheep, pigs, frogs and dogs. Scientists widely Animal-protection activists in the contend that animal research remains essential to scientific and United States have sought, and helped medical progress. enact, legislation to improve the wel- fare of farm animals since the 19th Select Nobel Laureates century. Many activists argue, howev- Whose Work Involved Animals er, that more regulation is needed be- cause, as a largely meat-eating soci- Year Laureates Animal Nature of discovery ety, we find it all too easy to ignore involved used the harsh conditions that exist on farms, especially as large factory farms be- 2007 Capecchi, Mouse Discovery of principles for introducing come the norm. Evans, specific gene modifications in mice by At a hog farm that former Bush Smithies the use of embryonic stem cells aide Scully visited, “to maximize the 2005 Marshall, Gerbil Discovery of bacterium that leads to use of space and minimize the need Warren gastritis and peptic ulcer disease for care, the . . . 400-to-500-pound 2000 Carlsson, Mouse, Signal transduction in the nervous mammals are trapped without relief Greengard, Guinea pig, system inside iron crates seven feet long and Kandel sea slug 22 inches wide,” where they “chew maniacally on bars and chains, as for- 1998 Furchgott, Rabbit Nitric oxide as signaling molecule in aging animals will do when denied Ignarro, cardiovascular system straw . . . or else just lie there like Murad broken beings,” wrote Scully. “The 1991 Neher, Frog Chemical communication between spirit of the place would be familiar” Sakmann cells to police who raid outlawed “puppy 1990 Murray, Dog Organ transplantation techniques mills,” but, in the case of farm ani- Thomas mals, in most states “the law prohibits 1989 Varmus, Chicken Viral origin of some cancer-causing none of it.” 19 Bishop genes The meat-eating public “is isolated from the negative consequences” of 1981 Sperry, Cat, Processing of visual information by the our treatment of farm animals “through Hubel, monkey brain our language and the packaging of Wiesel animal products, both of which de- 1979 Cormack, Pig Development of computer-assisted emphasize the fact that we are involved Hounsfield tomography in the abuse of living, sentient crea- 1977 Guilemin, Sheep, pig Hypothalamic hormones, chemicals tures,” wrote Emory University profes- Schally, that help regulate some vital body sor of sociology Robert Agnew. “We Yalow processes do not eat ‘cows’ or ‘pigs,’ but rather ‘hamburgers’ and ‘pork chops.” Adver- Source: Foundation for Biomedical Research tising and other media often give the impression that “most farm animals live Continued from p. 6 to something important for us,” and contented lives in idyllic settings.” 20 thousands of monkeys in ways that “when philosophers . . . deny this “Most people know very little about are extremely painful and later fatal . . . they go against normal intu- how animals are treated in agriculture, to the monkeys, we should still go itions. . . . We rightly outlaw slav- and they end up supporting practices, right ahead,” Narveson said. “Most ery.” However, “since we don’t think like the worst kind of factory farming, people think animal experimentation animals are people, we don’t think that they would (if fully informed) view permissible, so long as it could lead of our use of them as ‘enslavement,’ as morally unacceptable,” according to 8 CQ Researcher
  • 9. the Project on Ani- “The livestock indus- mal Treatment at the try has a long history University of Chica- of supporting animal go Law School. 21 welfare,” but that’s not Congress has the same as the “animal- done little to devel- rights” agenda that op regulations for animal-advocacy groups protecting farm ani- push, so animal activists U.S. Department of Agriculture mals, and the De- continue to complain, partment of Agricul- says former Rep. Char- ture (USDA) also has lie Stenholm, D-Texas, “grown very close to now a senior policy ad- the industry,” creat- viser for agricultural is- ing “an unregulated sues at a Washington- situation where there based law and lobbying are basically no pro- firm. “These activist tections for farm an- groups use the platform imals at the federal Gestation crates severely restrict the movement of female pigs during of animal rights to ad- level in production pregnancy. State laws are beginning to regulate treatment of farm vocate for regulations so agriculture,” accord- animals, but federal laws apply only to the transport and slaughter of strict they will put ani- farm animals. The nation’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Farms, ing to Wayne Pacelle, announced it will begin phasing out gestation crates on its farms. mal agriculture out of CEO of the Humane business, which is their Society. real goal.” Animal-welfare groups are not call- said Steve Kopperud, senior vice “The greatest risk right now is the ing for unreasonable or illogical rules, president of the Washington lobby- possibility that Congress will take says Pacelle. ing and communications firm Policy seriously the advice of people who For example, one issue concerns the Directions, which specializes in farm have sworn never to eat meat in “gestation crates” in which breeding and food issues. 22 crafting policy that will damage sows are housed for much of their lives. Farm-industry groups “are com- farming,” David Martosoko, director “They may endure seven, eight, nine, mitted to working with USDA to help of research for the food-industry- 10 successive pregnancies in a two-foot their members comply” with animal- backed advocacy group Center for by seven-foot cage in which they can- welfare rules, said Jeremy Russell, di- Consumer Freedom, told a House not turn around,” he says. “These are rector of communications and gov- panel in 2007. 25 curious animals that like to root around ernment relations for the National in the mud,” and several states have Meat Association. “No discussion of Is animal research necessary to banned the crates, and at least one large animal welfare can be complete achieve medical progress? hog company, Smithfield, has voluntarily without a mention of the tremendous Research using live animals has agreed to phase them out, says Pacelle. improvements that have been made long been a staple both of basic- The phase-out should and could be over the years. . . . The industry’s science laboratories — where bio- industrywide, however, he says. sledgehammer days are long gone,” medical scientists seek knowledge But other analysts argue that calls and “federal inspectors, who are in about how living beings function — for stricter controls on factory-farm packing plants continuously, enforce” and toxicology labs, where scientists practices are really veiled calls for an the requirements of the Humane use live animals to test whether cos- end to meat eating altogether. Slaughter Act of 1957. 23 metics, radiation, industrial chemicals “When you peel away the rhetoric Furthermore, the association “en- and other environmental exposures and posturing of all animal-rights courages plants to do everything are safe for humans. groups, the bottom line is the same: possible to create calm, low-stress at- Today, toxicology laboratories are ‘You have no right to be in business. mospheres that work with — rather beginning a large-scale phase-out of Animals should not be used for food. than against — animals’ natural in- animal testing over the next few We’ll continue to fight to make it un- stincts,” said Russell. The U.S. meat decades. In the biomedical science popular or uneconomical to be in industry “has embraced voluntary arena, however, debate rages over the livestock and poultry business,’ ” humane handling” programs. 24 whether live-animal research contributes www.cqresearcher.com Jan. 8, 2010 9
  • 10. ANIMAL RIGHTS enough to human welfare to justify out in humans, wrote Wichita State’s developing a neural prosthesis that animals’ suffering and death. Shanks and Ray and Jean Greek, au- could allow a blind person to see Biomedical scientists’ zeal to contin- thors of Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: again by means of a head-mounted ue live-animal research “is all about get- The Human Cost of Experiments on An- camera whose images would stimu- ting grant money, not about helping peo- imals. In the case of the drug thalido- late the brain directly, bypassing dam- ple,” says Jerry Vlasak, a Los Angeles mide — a sedative prescribed to preg- aged eyes, says Ringach. surgeon and leader of the North Amer- nant women in the 1950s and ’60s that “It takes years and years to devel- ican Animal Liberation Press Office. led to the birth of children without limbs op those studies” on monkeys, “and For example, a vision researcher at — animal tests conducted after the human my work is at least partly gone,” Ringach UCLA has pursued research involving birth defects were discovered showed says. “Now I work with humans, who sensors placed on the eyeballs of rhesus that the drug’s health effects varied are also animals but who can sign a monkeys “for 19 years,” repeatedly being widely among animal species. 26 piece of paper and say they agree. awarded grant renewals to continue the Some species showed none of the The research I’m doing with humans project, “just because he says he’s on negative effects that thalidomide caused is completely different from what I the verge of a great discovery,” which in humans, while others were affect- was doing before” and won’t provide so far hasn’t come, despite nearly two ed but to a far lesser degree than hu- answers to some key questions that decades of suffering on the part of the mans. “All the animals whose offspring must be answered before an actual vi- monkeys, says Vlasak. exhibited” the limbless condition that sual prosthesis could be developed. From time to time, animal experi- afflicted human babies “did so only “We need to figure out how to plant menters “have stumbled on something after being given doses 25-150 times a device in the brain that could be in useful,” but current experiments “aren’t the human dose,” wrote Shanks and there for years and years,” and how elec- coming up with anything of actual value” the Greeks. Thus, biomedical scientists’ tricity in such a device would interact for health, since basic science, by defin- hypothesis that animal research is “pre- with the brain’s own electrical signals ition, aims at generating data and infor- dictive for humans is wrong.” 27 and with brain tissue, he says. “There’s mation, without reference to whether that But animal-rights advocates are mere- no way you can actually develop these information will be useful or not, says ly pitting “the simple lie” that animals are things” using only human subjects. Vlasak. Nevertheless, the government being harmed in labs without purpose “We’re trying to test how nature works,” funds basic-science experimentation on against “the complex truth” that experi- and in some cases there is literally no live animals to the tune of hundreds of mentation on live animals has yielded a way to gain that knowledge without ob- millions of dollars annually, he says. The great deal of valuable scientific knowl- serving whole animals, Ringach says. money would be better used expanding edge, says Jacquie Calnan, president Particularly in an aging society, “one insurance coverage to more Americans of the biomedical-research advocacy of the most explosive areas of science — 46,000 of whom die prematurely group Americans for Medical Progress. is neuroscience,” with the public greatly every year because of lack of care — Animal studies have been crucial in interested in finding answers to neuro- and retooling medical practice to use al- developing treatments for many con- logical diseases of aging such as Parkin- ready proven treatments that aren’t being ditions, says Trull of the Foundation son’s and Alzheimer’s, says Trull. Study- used, he says. for Biomedical Research. They are ing live non-human primates is “the only “Half the drugs that test as safe on “critical to hepatitis work,” for exam- way” to learn about this, she says. animals turn out to not work or be ple, while both cataract surgeries and When it comes to the toxicology lab, safe in people, so you might as well joint replacement were both pioneered which has traditionally used millions of flip a coin” as test drugs initially on in animals, Trull says. mostly small animals to determine the animals, Vlasak says. Dario Ringach, a professor of neuro- toxicity of chemical substances like drugs Many opponents of live-animal re- biology and psychology at the Uni- and cosmetics, scientists now generally search argue that studies demonstrating versity of California, Los Angeles agree with animal-welfare advocates that that treatments are safe or effective in (UCLA), stopped his primate research animal testing should be phased out. animals often don’t pan out when the after animal activists threatened his “The main crystallizing event” for that same treatments are tried in human be- home, terrorizing his young children, trend was a report issued by the Na- ings, making the research far less ef- several years ago. Ringach describes tional Academy of Sciences in 2007 that fective in advancing actual medical his monkey studies as an examination “articulated a vision that 20 years down knowledge than scientists claim. of “the basic way that the brain process- the line we will get to the point where Animal studies do not reliably pre- es information from the eyes” that might we use no or virtually no animals” to dict how medical treatments will pan have served as preliminary work for Continued on p. 12 10 CQ Researcher
  • 11. Chronology the Naval Weapons Center in 2008 1950s-1970s Federal laws are enacted to China Lake, Calif., and pays to Federal agents shut down a Cali- relocate the animals. . . . PETA fornia slaughterhouse after under- protect some farm animals, co-founder Alex Pacheco secretly cover video shows workers abusing pets and laboratory animals. photographs filthy conditions for sick cattle, but a government audit monkeys at Institute of Behavioral finds no evidence that slaughter- 1954 Research in Silver Spring, Md. house inspection in the nation is Humane Society of the United States inadequate. . . . California ballot is founded to apply advocacy tech- 1985 initiative bans confinement of veal niques developed by local animal- Congress amends AWA to require calves, hens and brood sows in welfare groups to national issues. animal-research labs to provide cages that don’t allow them to turn exercise for dogs and companion- freely, lie down, stand up and ex- 1958 ship for nonhuman primates, as tend their limbs. Federal Humane Slaughter Act re- well as mental stimulation like quires mammals killed for food to toys and opportunities to forage 2009 be completely stunned before for food. China contemplates its first ani- being dismembered. mal-welfare law, requiring regis- • tration and vaccination of pets 1966 and banning pet maltreatment. . . . Allegations that pet dogs are being Ohio voters back an agriculture kidnapped for research spark en- actment of federal Animal Welfare 2000s State laws and ballot initiatives target animal industry-sponsored constitutional amendment barring legislators Act (AWA), requiring humane treat- cruelty on farms. and voters from enacting animal- ment by dealers who sell dogs welfare rules that apply to farms. and cats to laboratories. 2000 . . . National retailer J.C. Penney After a PETA hidden-camera inves- stops selling fur products, after 1976 tigation, workers at a North Caroli- years of protests by activists. . . . AWA is expanded to cover animal na hog farm receive the first-ever U.S. biomedical scientists join fighting. felony convictions handed out for with Pro-Test, a United Kingdom- farm abuses, including skinning based group, to seek public sup- 1979 animals alive and sawing off the port for animal research. . . . San Francisco attorney Joyce Tis- legs of a conscious animal. Ban on animal testing for cos- chler founds Animal Legal Defense metics takes effect in European Fund (ALDF). 2005 Union. . . . NFL quarterback World Organization for Animal Michael Vick is signed by • Health adopts guidelines for the Philadelphia Eagles after serving humane transport and slaughter of 18 months in prison on a 2007 food animals. conviction for operating a dog- 1980s-1990s Animal-protection advocates fighting ring; he vows to work with the Humane Society to edu- 2006 spar with biomedical researchers Federal Animal Enterprise Terror- cate the public about the cruelty over study of live animals. ism Act sets tough penalties for of animal fighting. . . Several activists who commit or threaten states pass tough new animal- 1980 violence against animal-using orga- protection laws: amputation of PETA — People for the Ethical nizations, such as factory and fur dairy cows’ tails banned (Califor- Treatment of Animals — is founded farms and university research labs. nia); felonies enacted for animal in Norfolk, Va. cruelty (Arkansas) and cockfighting 2007 (Kansas); larger cages required for 1981 Congress makes violation of AWA breed sows and veal calves Settling a case brought by ALDF, animal-fighting provisions a felony (Maine); 24-hour-a-day tethering the Navy halts the planned slaugh- punishable by up to three years of dogs and short chains and ter of thousands of wild burros at in prison. choke collars banned (Nevada). www.cqresearcher.com Jan. 8, 2010 11
  • 12. ANIMAL RIGHTS Violent Animal Activists in the Minority Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act set tough penalties. he 2000s saw an uptick in activist violence directed at as possible — fruit flies, for example, rather than mice — T biomedical researchers who use live animals in experi- ments, with the highest-profile incidents occurring at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “while still making the research relevant” to humans, and also “to minimize the number of animals used,” he says. Today, research on large animals, especially, is only under- Some of the activists adopted a tactic regularly used by anti- taken in order to study the most important biological systems, abortion activists — posting the names, photos and contact in- Ringach says. “Competition for grant funds is extremely diffi- formation of scientists on the Internet, enabling sympathizers cult,” with only about 10 percent of grants funded, so scien- to anonymously plan protests and harass specific scientists. tists who get funding are almost by definition working on high- In the early 2000s, a group of UCLA students published con- priority science, whose ultimate value for human health makes tact information for several university personnel, including Dario it vital. “If you’re proposing to look at Botox, those studies Ringach, a UCLA professor of neurobiology and psychology who aren’t going to get funded,” he says. formerly conducted vision research on live monkeys. Although When Ringach’s monkey lab was in operation, his experi- university administrators fairly quickly dissuaded the student group mental animals were treated humanely, he says. “What people from continuing the postings, by that time activists outside the would have seen in the lab is what you would see in a human university had the information, Ringach says. surgery suite, an animal anesthetized, with his skin opened, “People showed up at our home at night, wearing ski masks, and electrodes in the brain. I can show you the same kind of 20 to 40 of them, banging on the windows” and vandalizing thing in an epileptic [human] patient,” he says. The monkey property. “My kids” — ages 3 and 6 when the protests began would receive “very similar drugs and monitoring on the table” — “were crying every night,” says Ringach, who abandoned to what a human would receive. “But if you don’t understand his research in 2006. “Their goal was to terrorize my family, what’s happening” in those surgeries — animal or human — and they succeeded.” “the sights will shock you,” he says. Between 2006 and 2008 violence and threats escalated Outside the surgical suite, monkeys were housed in pairs against other UCLA employees who worked with animals. Three and in groups, in accordance with their being “very social an- incendiary devices were left near faculty homes, and a re- imals,” Ringach says. They had toys to play with and TV to searcher received a package rigged with razor blades. 1 watch because, like all primates, they need mental stimulation, In 2009, the university won a court injunction prohibiting a need that the 1985 Animal Welfare Act (AWA) amendments three animal-rights groups and five individuals from coming codified into a legal requirement for labs, Ringach says. within 50 feet of the residences of UCLA scientists who do an- But some animal activists say that the AWA rules are a smoke- imal research or posting personal information about UCLA per- screen behind which the inherent intolerable cruelty of animal sonnel on the Web. 2 research lurks. “Anyone knowledgeable considers the Animal Despite activists’ complaint that all animal research is cruel and Welfare Act completely useless,” says Jerry Vlasak, a Los Angeles- unjustified, the vast majority of American biomedical researchers based surgeon and a leader of the activist group North Ameri- who experiment on live animals today take animals’ welfare into can Animal Liberation Press Office. “It doesn’t cover farm ani- account, even as they pursue experiments vital for developing mals or rodents, and even for those animals that it does cover knowledge of how living bodies function, Ringach argues. there are exceptions” for occasions when it’s considered ac- “The notion that people walk into a lab and say, ‘Hey, today ceptable to impose pain and suffering in the lab, he says. I’m going to blowtorch a monkey’ is just nonsense.” For one In 2004, Vlasak made international headlines when he declared, thing, federal rules require scientists to use as simple a species “I don’t think you’d have to kill too many [researchers]” to end Continued from p. 10 methods for drugs and chemicals that test the toxicity of chemicals and other products, says Paul Locke, an associate professor of environmental health sci- use human cells grown in the lab rather than live animals. “Animal testing is time-consuming, BACKGROUND ences at the Johns Hopkins University expensive and doesn’t always relate to Bloomberg School of Public Health. what is toxic in humans,” and “this Early Farm Laws Under a new government program really has the potential to revolutionize the way toxic chemicals are identified,” hilosophers as far back as Aris- launched in the report’s wake, several federal agencies will cooperate to re- search and develop toxicity-testing said Francis Collins, director of the Na- tional Institutes of Health (NIH). 28 P totle have mused on whether humans have an ethical responsibility 12 CQ Researcher
  • 13. AFP/Getty Images/India Today Group/Subir Halder animal research. “I think for penalties for threats and vio- five lives, 10 lives, 15 human lent acts against academic or lives, we could save a million, commercial organizations that 2 million, 10 million non- use or sell animals or animal human lives.” 3 products. The law “has increased He continues to stand by communication among law that principle. enforcement agencies” about In recent years, “many animal-rights protesters and have come to view the strug- helped head off more actions gle for animal liberation as like the ones against UCLA, being on a par with other says Frankie Trull, founder and liberation struggles,” such as Activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals president of the Washington- the fights to end apartheid (PETA), their bodies painted as monkeys, protest against based Foundation for Bio- in South Africa and slavery animal research in New Delhi, India, on Nov. 25, 2009. medical Research. in the United States, says But Vlasak says AETA was Vlasak. In history “no oppressors have ever given in without a a sign that animal-using groups are beginning to understand struggle,” with the result that a wide variety of tactics, including that there is growing public pressure for them to change their “civil disobedience and acts of violence,” have been part of all ways, not just from activists who threaten violence but from liberation battles when the occasion demands it, he says. the public at large, who increasingly express interest in ani- While peaceful protests, legal strategies and legislative ad- mal welfare in polls. “Any time you see an oppressor pass vocacy have a place, no liberation struggle totally committed laws, your action is having an effect,” he says. to nonviolence could succeed, Vlasak says. “Martin Luther King Most animal-protection supporters, however, take pains to and the peaceful changes that he made would have gotten distance themselves from any activism that involves harassment nowhere unless the oppressors knew that the alternative to or violence. “It’s a distortion” to point to the actions of a few ex- dealing with him was to deal with” activists who were willing tremists, such as the UCLA protesters, as a sign that the animal- to commit violence, such as the Black Panther Party. advocacy movement as a whole is extreme, says Kenneth Shapiro, Scientists who are targeted by extremists don’t get much executive director of the Animals and Society Institute, an Ann support, says Ringach. When he contacted the National Insti- Arbor, Mich.-based think tank. “The movement is very peace- tutes of Health — the federal agency that funds most basic ful compared to most liberation movements” and fully accepts biomedical research — he was told, “ ‘We’re not really an advo- the need for change to be gradual, he says. cacy group.’ When you actually try to talk to the top leadership of NIH, the bottom line is that somebody on the appropriations — Marcia Clemmitt committee” in Congress may take exception to the agency’s championing animal research, which has many foes among the 1 Phil Hampton, “Judge Expands Order to Block Harassment of Researchers,” public, and the agency is very reluctant to be vocal in support press release, University of California, Los Angeles, April 22, 2008, http://newsroom.ucla.edu. of its grantees, he says. 2 Ibid. In 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the An- 3 Quoted in Jamie Doward, “Kill Scientists, Says Animal Rights Chief,” The imal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), setting substantial new Guardian, July 25, 2004, www.guardian.co.uk. to treat animals well. It wasn’t until mon in physiology labs at least es cholera did not sicken and die the 19th century, however, that the since the 17th century — were help- but thrived instead. 30 modern animal-welfare movement ing to expand knowledge of biol- “The physiologist is not an ordinary coalesced into a large-scale public ogy. In 1879, for example, French man: he is a scientist possessed and movement. 29 chemist Louis Pasteur discovered absorbed by the scientific idea he pur- Some of the earliest clashes be- that vaccinating animals with weak- sues,” wrote French physiologist Claude tween animal-welfare advocates and ened disease-causing microbes gave Bernard. “He does not hear the cries users of animals involved scien- them immunity to future infection, of animals, he does not see their flow- tists. In 19th-century Europe, ex- after a flock of chickens he’d in- ing blood, he sees nothing but his periments on live animals — com- jected with the bacteria that caus- idea, and is aware of nothing but an www.cqresearcher.com Jan. 8, 2010 13
  • 14. ANIMAL RIGHTS organism that conceals from him the problem he is seeking to resolve.” 30 But while some animal experi- mentation undeniably advanced human knowledge in important ways, many in the public worried about the suffering and death that some researchers, like Bernard, were will- ing to impose on animals to satisfy scientific curiosity. In Bernard’s laboratory “we sacri- ficed daily from one to three dogs, besides rabbits and other animals, and after four months’ experience I am of the opinion that not one AFP/Getty Images/Steve Helber-Pool of those experiments . . . was jus- tified or necessary,” a retired British Navy officer wrote to a London newspaper of his experience work- ing with Bernard. 32 Growing public discomfort with an- imal suffering, in laboratories and else- where, led to the first attempts to squelch abuse by law. In 1810 and 1811, England’s lord high chancellor attempted but failed to pass bills gen- erally banning “wanton and malicious cruelty to animals.” 33 In 1822, the British Parliament passed Martin’s Act, outlawing the infliction of unnecessary cruelty or suffering on a few domesti- cated animals — cattle, oxen, horses and sheep. 34 In the United States, the earliest animal-protection law was the so- AFP/Getty Images/Al Bello called 28-hour law, limiting confine- ment of farm animals in a train car while being transported across coun- try, says historian Bernard Unti, se- nior policy adviser and special as- sistant to the Humane Society’s Pacelle. As farming shifted from a local to Cruelty Perpetrators in the Spotlight a national industry, “people saw with their own eyes the animals going Then-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to a federal through their towns on the train,” and dogfighting charge in 2007 and served 18 months in prison (top). He the beasts’ plight inspired sympathy, now speaks out against cruelty to animals and has returned to says Unti. Enacted in 1873, the law professional football . Spectators cheer on the opening night of the cockfighting season at the Coliseo Central De Barranquitas in Barranquitas, Puerto required that for every 28 hours of Rico (bottom). Heavy betting occurs before and during the fights. Cockfighting transport, animals must be offloaded is legal in Puerto Rico but a felony in some states. to eat, drink and have at least five hours of rest. 14 CQ Researcher