Former IDA Intern Goes Undercover

Email this page to a friend

MILL VALLEY, Calif. - A former IDA intern has gone public with undercover documentation -- including extensive video footage -- of horrible cruelty in the labs of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The documentation was obtained while the investigator was working as an employee of the lab over a period of six months.

The information gathered by the investigator arrives at a critical time when Congressional approval of the Farm Bill is pending. An amendment to the Farm Bill, proposed by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), would permanently exclude rats, mice and birds from the protection of the Animal Welfare Act.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

If Sen. Helms is successful in PERMANENTLY excluding rats, mice, and birds from the Animal Welfare Act, those who engage in cruel, unprofessional, unethical, and deceitful behavior will continue to be allowed to deprive these sensitive, feeling animals of their most basic needs. This cannot be allowed to happen.

If you are a constituent of any of the conference committee members (listed below), please immediately call and make the request to "please do everything in your power as a member of the Farm Bill Conference Committee to get the Helms animal research amendment dropped from the final bill."

If you are not a constituent of any of the conference committee members, please immediately call your senators and representative and request that they "urge the Farm Bill conferees to drop the Helms animal research amendment from the final bill."

To find out who your representative and senators are and to obtain their contact information, click here or call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Farm Bill Conferees:

Representatives
Terry Everett (R-Ala.)
Gary Condit (D-Calif.)
Calvin Dooley (D-Calif.)
Richard Pombo (R-Calif.)
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)
Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
Collin Peterson (D-Minn.)
Eva Clayton (D-N.C.)
John Boehner (R-Ohio)
Frank Lucas (R-Okla.)
Tim Holden (D-Pa.)
Larry Combest (R-Texas)
Charles Stenholm (D-Texas)
Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.)

Senators
Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.)
Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)
Tom Daschle (D-S.D.)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)

The neglect, suffering, deception, and cruelty uncovered at UNC are directly supported with your tax dollars, courtesy of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Please, immediately contact NIH and demand that it stop funding animal research at UNC. Also, ask that it conduct a thorough and unbiased investigation into UNC’s animal care and use program. Write and call:

Ruth L. Kirschstein, Director
National Institutes of Health
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20892
Tel.: 301-496-2433

The Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) "evaluates organizations that use animals in research, teaching, or testing … those that exhibit excellence in animal care and use are awarded accreditation." According to AAALAC, accreditation "represents quality," "promotes scientific validity," "demonstrates accountability," and "shows a real commitment to humane animal care."

In the case of UNC, nothing could be farther from the truth. While UNC is accredited by AAALAC, the university has exhibited disdain for the values that accreditation supposedly embodies. Please contact AAALAC and demand that it strip UNC of its accreditation. Write to:

Dr. John G. Miller, Executive Director
AAALAC
11300 Rockville Pike, #1211
Rockville, MD 20852-3035
E-Mail: jmiller@aaalac.org
Fax: 301-231-8282

More information is available at PeTA's web site