A Voice for All Animals Letters to the Editor   While Charles Siebert's article "A Planet of the Retired Apes" answered many questions, it left some questions not only unanswered but not even asked. (Read more)             As a physician deeply concerned about human health and disease, I was impressed with the article "Planet of the retired Apes". (Read more)             Charles Siebert clearly felt an affinity for his subjects in, "Planet of the Retired Apes". (Read more)             Your article on primate retirement sanctuaries exposed a serious humane and ethical problem facing our government. (Read more)             Your July 24 article on retirement sanctuaries for chimpanzees failed to clarify that taxpayer dollars will pay for these chimpanzees. (Read more)             Is it right or necessary to cause suffering (or death) to a species so like us? (Read more)             The recently released PETA footage of Covance is among some of the worse that I have seen. (Read more)             “Cruelty charges dropped against Charles River Labs” reminds us that researchers and laboratories using chimpanzees must be forced to justify their use of taxpayer and charity money. (Read more)             CRL and its legal dream-team escaped accountability because of a technicality that exempts veterinary practices from animal cruelty charges. (Read more)             Charges against Charles River Laboratories (CRL) raise the troubling realities of life for chimpanzees used in research. (Read more)             ESEC supports Kelowna students' efforts to pass a student choice policy, which would allow conscientious objectors to use a humane alternative to animal dissection or vivisection exercises. (Read more)             THE NEW England Anti-Vivisection Society's position on dissection choice legislation was misrepresented in Maria Sacchetti's article "Education chief to urge alternatives to dissection". (Read more)             The blithe tone of "Dissection Club not for squeamish" was an injustice to the 6-8 million animals killed each year for classroom dissections. (Read more)             We are writing to add our full support to the local and international appeals to deny Morini Farm's authorization to sell dogs and cats to research laboratories. (Read more)             New York students are fortunate to have Section 809, a law that requires instruction of humane treatment and protection of animals. Developing sensitivity and fostering compassionate behavior are priceless lessons with rippling effects on society as a whole. (Read more)             October readers may have spotted the Foundation for Biomedical Research's (FBR) latest attempt to court public approval of animal research. FBR's ad depicted a cat, Pookie: "Living with diabetes. Animal research saves animals, too." (Read more)             The last thing we need is to breed more monkeys for research. (Re: April 6, 2004; Monkeys for Research: Much Coveted, and Hard to Come By). In 2002, the USDA Animal Care Report counted 96,061 primates available for research. Of those, more than 43,000 were not yet assigned to research protocols and were being maintained in breeding colonies. (Read more)     [  Back to top  ]   Michael Fumento's remarks about "Legally Blonde 2" in his guest commentary (August 18, 2003) appear to be a desperate attempt to draw attention away from animals suffering in cosmetic testing labs. (Read more)         When I agreed to be interviewed by Michael Blanding ("Going Ape for TV") regarding the use of televisions as one source of enrichment for captive primates, I was crystal clear that I was not interested in participating in a silly, fluff piece that treated the topic as laughable. He assured me it would not. For the animals held captive in labs, zoos and sanctuaries, lives of utter confinement are anything but funny. (Read more)         NY Times Article Advocates for Xenotransplantion In Facing Off: Transplants From Pigs to People (10-2-01), xenotransplant researcher Dr. David K. Cooper advocates for xenotransplantation (animal to human transplants) even though it is a costly endeavor for the American taxpayer and bodes a potentially devastating risk to humankind. (Read more)         NEAVS Questions the Boston Globe's New Biology Lesson Rats are biologically similar to humans??? The New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) hopes readers will not swallow Marlene Cimons’ lopsided article Cheers, jeers on rat research (2-08-01). (Read more)           Foundation for Biomedical Research-Committed to Advancing Own Economic Agenda, Not Human Health Frankie Trull’s letter ("Animal rights agenda: More lawsuits," July 22, 2000) is more a scare tactic, designed to shift focus away from the pain caused to animals and the harm caused to humans by experiments on animals, than a reasoned response to the issue of "guardianship." She asserts, "Medical laboratories already spend millions of dollars for security systems to keep activists from destroying their work," yet neglects to mention that her organization, the Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR), spends many more millions every year to convince the public that animal experimentation is the only way to achieve human health. (Read more)       [  Back to top  ]   NEAVS Responds to Researchers' Public Claims of Sentiment in Houston Chronicle Researchers who lost "colleagues" (Leigh Hopper-- Scientists Hold Memorial for Animal Colleagues Lost in Flood, Oct 5, 2001) to Tropical Storm Allison when labs flooded, may have considered these animals their friends. But, their public show of sentiment is suspect and is, in fact, a manipulation of public opinion about how researchers care for animals. If their attachment were real, why wasn't an emergency evacuation plan in place? Why were the animals abandoned to certain death? (Read more)           Wall Street Journal Article on Mandatory Use of Animals in Education "Insubstantial" Having spent a great deal of time with reporter Chip Cummins ("In This School District, Virtual Amphibians Keep Real Ones Lively," Feb 5, 2001) and having provided him with extensive information concerning the educational, scientific, psychological, and environmental benefits of non-animal "alternatives" in classrooms, I was disappointed by the insubstantial article that resulted. The mandatory use of animals in education – from dead animal dissection to live animal experimentation – is one of the most earnestly debated issues in contemporary education. Educators and students are proving that the necessity and even the usefulness of harming and killing animal is a myth. (Read more)         Cats and NEAVS Don't Fancy this Cat Fancy Article Where did Cat Fancy acquire the information for its August 2001 article "Catnaps Boost Brainpower"? Certainly the author is not familiar with this experiment by Michael Stryker and co-workers at University of California, San Francisco. From your article and the photo of the peaceful sleeping kitten one would assume the kittens were in a harmless study—far from it! (Read more)         Boston Herald Focuses on Extremists, Not Real Animal Rights' Issues The debate over animal rights requires fair and balanced editing and reporting. It should also begin with the recognition that there are many in the animal advocacy community who do not, never have and never will, condone violence. By focusing on the headline grabbing tactics of a few groups and on extremist acts by so-called animal rights activists, you and other members of the media are doing the public a disservice. (Read more)     [  Back to top  ]   Boston Globe Writer Waits for Miracle Cure from Animal Experimentation It is certainly popular to claim that "someday" animal experimentation will bring forth a miracle cure and save human lives. To state categorically that animal experimentation is the "only way" is to do the hopeful and trusting public a vast disservice. As a physician, Joseph Murray, MD, (The Value of Animal Experimentation, 6/17/2000) should know this. Sometimes a mouse might demonstrate a human reaction to a specific chemical; sometimes a rabbit might; sometimes a cat might – but sometimes (in fact, more often than not) none of them do. (Read more)         ESEC Responds to The Charlotte Observer Pandora's box is about to be opened with scientists genetically modifying pigs to be organ donors for humans. Daniel Q. Haney’s article, "Perfecting organs of pigs for people" (8-9-01) missed the magnitude of harm that xenotransplantation--transplanting parts of one species into another--potentially bodes for humankind. (Read more)       Letters and Articles to Media   NEAVS Responds to Boston Globe Article on Ethics and Animals The debate over animal research requires fair and balanced editing and reporting. By focusing on misleading and disingenuous statements from the research industry and on extremist acts by so-called animal rights activists, the media is doing the public a disservice. (Read more)         Kitten Killing is Sign of More Serious Problems in Kennesaw City Youths As staff members of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS), one of the nation’s oldest animal advocacy organizations, we were appalled to learn via the Internet of the horrendous torture, mutilation, and killing of a helpless kitten in your community. This brutal crime should be thoroughly investigated and the three teenage boys charged with perpetrating this gruesome killing should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This is not a "prank;" this is callous disregard for a helpless, living being. Surely you must be aware that violence to animals is often predictive of violence to humans. (Read more)         Boston Herald Columnist Focuses on Radical Headlines, not Facts The debate over animal rights requires fair and balanced editing and reporting. It should also begin with the recognition that there are many in the animal advocacy community who do not, never have and never will, condone violence. By focusing on the headline grabbing tactics of a few groups and on extremist acts by so-called animal rights activists, you and other members of the media are doing the public a disservice. (Read more)         NEAVS Responds to USA Today's Inflammatory Reports on the AV Movement The recent editorial (Beastly behavior, 12/9/99) and Tim Friend’s report (Violence escalates over animal research, 12/8/99) and countless other media coverage portray animal researchers as dedicated heroes, while depicting animal advocates as the lunatic science-hating fringe who care more about rats, chickens and dogs than about their "own kind." Such reports are inflammatory and over-simplified. There is a clear, concerted effort by the deep-pocketed medical research establishment to portray all animal activists as either terrorists or naïve "animal lovers" with no understanding of research and medicine.     [  Back to top  ] Letters to Organizations   NEAVS Calls For Immediate End to All Animal Toxicity Testing; Submits comments to NICEATM Scientists have concluded that in vitro (non-animal) data could be used to set starting doses for animal toxicity testing, reducing animal use by up to 30 percent or more. However, this is a very small accomplishment when the goal is a 100% replacement of the use of all animals in all such egregiously cruel testing. Their opinion was that non-animal methods would require “further development” before they could be used to totally replace animals. In responding to these conclusions, NEAVS President Dr. Theodora Capaldo and NEAVS Science Advisor Dr. Cecilia Clemedson pointed out that there is already ample evidence showing the benefits of using non-animal alternatives in toxicity testing. (Read more)         NALC Annual Donations Fund Animal Research It was brought to our attention that every year the NALC raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). While it is very commendable to encourage your members to give to a charity, the dollars that go to the MDA fund unnecessary and inhumane animal research. NEAVS asks that your members’ donations instead be directed towards a charity that does not test on animals. (Read more)         VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine Kills Dog Awaiting Adoption, Continues with Terminal Surgeries The New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) was shocked to read that the VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine killed Dusty, a dog used for practice surgery, when an employee was anxiously waiting to adopt him. First, performing terminal procedures on healthy animals to teach veterinary students surgery is unnecessary. Your school, like many other veterinary colleges, recognizes this and offers terminal surgery practice as an elective. And, Tufts Veterinary School no longer offers any terminal surgery on any animals in its curriculum. Clearly, as scientific studies now show and as humane ethics always knew, this ritual is not required to become a competent veterinarian. (Read more) [  Back to top  ]