From the Desk of Michael Budkie, SAEN’s Executive Director
Animal experimentation depends on one thing to continue -- the
general public must be kept in the dark about what really happens inside
the laboratories. For animal experimentation to continue, two
myths must be constantly reinforced by the animal research industry.
These myths are that animal experimentation is necessary and that
animals in laboratories are well cared for because labs are
highly regulated by a federal agency.
In June of this year, SAEN took two major steps towards exploding
both of these myths. On June 1st, a story ran in United Press
International (UPI) in which SAEN proved that in many instances
researchers are doing the same experiments over and over and over again.
We demonstrated very clearly that 57 current projects squander
over $110 million in just five years. We were also able to
reveal that these projects are not only redundant in and of themselves,
but they are also redundant with each other. Obviously, the same
experiments don’t need to be done 57 times simultaneously. And even if
we were to ignore the fact that animal experimentation cannot be
generalized to humans due to cross-species differences in anatomy and
physiology, these projects are not directly relevant to any disease --
so much for scientific necessity!
Just 11 days after the UPI story broke, SAEN again made national and
international news by exposing terrible negligence and abuse inside
three nationally known labs – Charles River Laboratories, Bioreliance,
and Tufts University Veterinary School. The suffering endured by the
animals in these facilities is unconscionable – dogs burnt by heat
lamps, pigs castrated without anesthesia, hamsters killed in a cage
washing system or put into a freezer designated for cadaver storage
while still alive, a dog and monkey killed due to botched surgeries,
etc. These incidents are NOT the mark of a well regulated
industry; clearly animals are NOT treated humanely inside laboratories.
Due directly to SAEN’s work, these abuses were revealed to the American
Public in the pages of publications, such as Boston Globe,
Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, as
well as dozens of other well-known publications and radio/TV stations.
Within just 12 days, SAEN exposed the basic truth about animal
experimentation to literally millions of people worldwide. This
tremendous step lifted the veil of secrecy, putting the truth out in the
open for everyone to see. But this must be only the beginning! We must
continue working diligently to end animal experimentation once and for
all.
SAEN must continue to investigate absolutely every laboratory that
we can focus our attention on to ensure that every abuse, every
illegality, every malfeasance is exposed. And we must also keep
the real motivation for animal experimentation – MONEY –
out in the open for every one to see.
This is an enormous task, but we will not shy away from it. SAEN is
already in the process of obtaining government reports for every single
one of the 1100 laboratories in the U.S. These federal reports will
provide us with hard facts that we can bring to the public to make it
irrefutably clear that abuse and negligence are part of every
animal laboratory! Currently, we are working to acquire
internal records from key laboratories so that we can paint the fullest
possible picture of the cruelty and exploitation which is so very
commonplace.
We must and will work to end useless and redundant experimentation
and insure that the formerly wasted funding is redirected into clinical
research which will actually benefit human medicine. But, SAEN can
only do this with your help. Your direct involvement in our work
is absolutely vital if we are to be successful. You must write to the
USDA to make certain that our complaints are given the fullest possible
investigations. You must contact your elected officials to inform them
that your tax dollars must be directed away from useless animal
experiments. And, if we are to continue this monumental task of taking
on all of the labs in the U.S., then we must obtain all of the
information that is available, ALL of the facts. You can
make this possible. You can give us the ability to continue our fight
for the animals until every single laboratory cage is empty. Please
make the decision to get actively involved with our work today!.