Programs & Campaigns
A Message to People Who Care about Birds
No one knows how many. . .
The use of birds in agricultural and biomedical research
A Message to People Who Care about Animals from NEAVS in collaboration with
United Poultry Concerns
Birds of a feather suffer together
Chickens, turkeys, ducks, quails, pigeons, crows and other species are used in
agricultural, behavioral and biomedical research, both to study diseases and to devise new
ways of raising and killing animals for food. Each year millions of birds are subjected to
all sorts of cruel, wasteful and invalid research in government, university and private
corporate laboratories.
"What caused you to become skeptical of your work?"
"A moral twinge. Somehow
it didn’t feel right to be cutting off the wings of newly-hatched birds [shown to
save on feed costs]. Later some of them couldn’t get up onto their feet when they
fell over. It wasn’t pleasant seeing them spin around on their side trying to get
back onto their feet, without their wings." —Interview
of Dr. Eldon Kienholz (1928-1993), former professor of poultry nutrition at Colorado State
University’s Department of Animal Science by Karen Davis, Ph.D.
One Exploiter Supplies Another
The link between the agricultural use of domestic fowl and their use
in biomedical research is close and longstanding. Poultry production companies offer
research labs a virtually endless supply of easily replaceable test subjects. Domestic
fowl—“farm” birds—have been and continue to be widely used in research
because they are cheap, readily available and are easily bred and managed. Birds are often
used for research because their developing embryos can be studied, vivisected and
manipulated outside the mother.
No Protection
Birds, mice and rats have been specifically excluded from coverage
under the federal Animal Welfare Act. Legislation passed in 1970 was meant to provide for
their protection, but was never implemented. Language in the 2002 Farm Bill initially
included coverage for birds, mice and rats, but was stricken from the final bill after
lobbying from pro-agribusiness and pro-vivisection groups.
Impeded Instincts
Life in a laboratory can be excruciating for birds. Like other
animals, they are usually kept in deprived conditions where they cannot nest, groom
themselves, or engage in other normal behaviors...not even the simple pleasure of
spreading their wings. Birds are social animals who are quite intelligent, sensitive to
pain and responsive to their world.
Birds in Agricultural & Biomedical Research
Although no one really knows exactly how many birds suffer and die in
laboratories around the world, we do know that birds, mice and rats account for 95% of the
approximately 25 - 35 million animals used in research in the United States alone.
Biomedical Research
Many of the major pharmaceutical companies keep permanent flocks of
chickens and other birds in their laboratories for testing purposes. Like other animals,
birds are being genetically modified to produce individuals or strains with certain
attributes that can be exploited for profit.
Birds are used in experiments involving drugs, genetic engineering,
diet and nutrition, sclerosis and fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, visual impairment, organ
development and deformity, smoke inhalation, pain, aging, trans-species brain tissue
implants, sex-change and toxicology. Such experiments are funded by millions of taxpayer
dollars, often doled out by the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s biggest
funder of animal experiments.
Agricultural Research
Many experiments involving domestic fowl are related to efforts to
further exploit them as meat and egg machines. Birds are used in experiments involving
partial beak amputation, forced molting, food deprivation and starvation, heat stress,
feather pulling, genetic engineering, cloning and growth manipulation. They are also used
to devise and test various slaughtering methods.
In one study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 250 hens
were subjected to electric shocks prior to being killed, to determine if the flesh from
their breasts would be easier to remove. Some experiments attempt to create
“featherless” birds.
In their own word . . .
Debeaking experiments show that beak trimming causes a hen’s heart rate ‘to
increase 100 beats per minute’ and it takes her ‘from six to 10 minutes’ to
recover from the infliction. Yet, debeaking experiments continue to be done.
— Karen Davis, Ph.D., Founder and President of UPC
Comparing pain in birds and pain in mammals,it is clear that...there are no major
differences and therefore the ethical considerations normally afforded to mammals should
be extended in birds.
— Michael J. Gentle, 1992, Animal Scientist
The smaller and more visually dissimilar a species is to homo sapiens, the more the
ways in which they are very similar to us in their capacity to feel pain and suffer is
forgotten.
In doing this, the delusion of our moral superiority is shattered. A truly compassionate
person extends compassion to every living being.
—Theodora Capaldo, EdD, President, NEAVS
What you can do . . .
- Write to the USDA, asking that birds be included in the Animal Welfare Act.
Bobby Acord, Deputy
Administrator of APHIS
1400 Independence Ave. SW
Jamie Whitten Bldg., Room 312 E
Washington D.C. 20250
Tel: (202) 720-3861 Fax: (202) 720-3054
Bobby.R.Acord@usda.gov
- Contact your local university to learn whether it does research on birds and/or if it
has a breeding colony that sells birds to research. Let NEAVS & UPC know what you
find. If you are a graduate of a university, let that institution know you will withhold
all contributions until bird research/breeding ends.
- Join NEAVS and support our ongoing campaigns.
- Visit our Web site at www.neavs.org for more information on becoming a supporter.
- Distribute copies of this brochure.
- You can download a copy from our Web site at
www.neavs.org/downloads/birdbrochure.pdf
- Don’t have Web access?
Send a SASE for free copies of this flyer.
Visit www.neavs.org or
www.upc-online.org to read Dr. Davis’
The Experimental Use of Chickens and other Birds in Biomedical and Agricultural
Research.
© 2002. Provided as a public service. |
