Say No to Animal Testing

Cruelty-Free is the only way to shop

She is going to help us navigate a sensitive topic - the mistreatment of animalsanimal testing in laboratories - breeding and research facilities that create animals solely for this purpose.

Then we will flip the switch to learn what we can do to help, including how to support new legislation on the floor in Washington DC. Finally, how to adopt some of these wonderful creatures who haven't gotten a chance in life.

Monica, thanks for talking with me today. You are in the trenches. We all love animals, and none of us want to think about anything terrible happening to them, but it's going on a lot all the time. I want to hear about all you're doing, but also, how did you get the stomach, the tenacity, and the motivation to dive into this challenging area?

Thank you for having me. I've been an animal advocate my entire life. Two kinds of people are involved in animal advocacy. Those that have always loved animals and it was an extension of them. Those who had an AHA moment, a moment that changed their awareness of animal issues, became advocates. I am the first kind; I grew up on a farm. I have always loved animals. I started campaigning early on. My first advocacy was in the first grade. I campaigned to release the class pet, which was a native lizard. I lobbied my first-grade teacher until we set that little lizard free. It's always been in my blood. Then in high school, I circulated petitions about animal testing. I became a vegetarian in high school and went on with it all into college. My background is in Wildlife science. In college, I ran the Students for Ethical Treatment of Animals on the campus at Humboldt State. It's an extension of me. You can say it's a calling.

If you were raised on a farm, was your family of the same ilk or just you?

We had hunters in our families. That's a different kind of appreciation for animals than animal welfare or farmed animals. I started thinking about why we treat animals differently. Are some of the things that we do to animals necessary? Why would we harm them if it wasn't?

How did you become part of Cruelty-Free International?

I have been working in a wildlife conservation organization called Born Free and Animal Protections too for many years. In 2013 I made the switch over to Cruelty-Free International, which was originally called the British Union for the Abolition of Viva section. It is an organization that is over 100 years old and based in London. They recently changed their name to reflect their international work and part of the work they wanted to do in the US. I stepped up to lead their US campaigns and have been working on the issues of animals in research and testing ever since.

Recently you have been to Washington, DC. You have been active in directing resources to the Care Act. What is that?

The Care Act is one of the priority bills we're working on at the federal level. It stands for the Companion Animal Release from Experiments Act. This bill would require any facility, any laboratory that takes taxpayer money from the National Institutes of Health, which is most universities and laboratories, to have adoption policies in place for dogs, cats, and rabbits when they are no longer wanted for research. They would have to post those policies online. They would have to keep track of the animals that were adopted and also publish how many animals were adopted. This creates both transparency and accountability.

From what I'm reading, beagles are of a particular focus. Beagles are a breed of dog that is commonly used in research. They are small, and they are easygoing. They make good test subjects. Beagles were the ones commonly used in Envigo.

Recently there was a case where Envigo was a breeding facility that bred beagles for research purposes. Because of violations of the Animal Welfare Act, they were forced to close down. They ended up releasing almost 4000 of their beagles for adoption. There was an influx of beagles from that particular case. Although the adoption of animals has been going on for a while, many people have heard of the Envigo situation because there were so many animals. Many were puppies, and some were pregnant females. We did an event on Capitol Hill with many of the Envigo beagles who came for a beagle meet and greet with staff and Congress people to encourage the support of the Care Act.

You mentioned cosmetics, but what happens to these animals behind closed doors?

Chemical testing usually involves injecting the animal with an ingredient to see how it affects its internal organs and at what point they die. Or some of the more physical, the older tests, such as skin irritation, would be putting the chemical directly on the skin or dripping the chemicals in their eyes. Today, like with the beagles, those are primarily used in drug testing. A second species in toxicity tests and other types of experiments often use rabbits. They can be used in antibody research. It's not just the experiments themselves. It is that animals experience extreme pain and suffering, and sometimes pain relief is not provided. It would impact the results of the testing. It's also that the animals live in very sterile, barren environments up until the time their research begins. The suffering isn't just in the experiment itself. It's the entire environment that's devoid of comfort. Things animals would like to do limited in the laboratory environment.

Sometimes an animal will be used in an experiment. If they survive the experiment and are healthy, they can leave the laboratory. A lot of times, they'll be reused for some other experiment. In some cases, a laboratory might breed more animals than they realize that they need and decide they no longer have use for the animals. What typically happens is they just kill animals they no longer want, even if they have never been used.

If the animals are healthy and don't have behavioral issues, then they can be adopted. And that's something that has caught on in recent years. Rescue groups have been eager to get involved and help with this. Most of the laws that are passed in the various states do focus on dogs and cats.

We're trying to get rabbits included as well. It's not like a rescue group or a shelter that is already struggling is suddenly going to get an influx of animals they can't accept. It's people and organizations that are willing to accept the animals.

What kind of people work in these laboratories?

It's a range of people. Some are technicians who are carrying out the experiments. They know part of what they are doing. Some probably believe what they are doing is necessary. As to why someone would choose to do animal research or would continue to do it, the situations vary. There is a very good book out by Dr. John Gluck, who was a former primate researcher, called Voracious Science and Vulnerable Animals. And he talks about his whole journey. It gives insight into why somebody might get into the field and think that it's necessary. But over time, he started to realize that it wasn't. He started to think about the abuses that were taking place, and he changed his position on it.

We're only talking about the United States. I'm assuming this is going on in many parts of the world.

Oh, yes. U. S. Is probably one of the biggest users of animals in research. Animal research and testing take place all over the world.

What can be done to help these animals, and how can we adopt these animals? Do they make good pets after these experiences?

There have been studies that have followed animals that come out of laboratories. They found they do adjust to home life. Those that adopt them usually would do it all over again. The benefit doesn't just lie with the animal. It benefits the person. They often really enjoy the concept that they're helping an animal, even if it requires a little bit of a transition. They found that puppies that come out are much more malleable. But with dogs, they've found that it's very helpful if the home has another dog in the house because they can socialize with the dogs and have another dog that they can learn how to be part of a home. It helps with working through some of the traumas they might have.

How do you get your hands on one of these animals? How do you become a recipient or apply to adopt one?

It's all over the US. Different states have rescue groups that will be involved with placing dogs that get released from laboratories. Sometimes you don't know when a laboratory is going to decide to release animals. You would probably hear about it through your local news or follow a group like Homeward Bound Trails or Big Old Freedom Projects. I worked with a rabbit rescue group called Friends of Unwanted Rabbits, which has taken rabbits that were released from a lab multiple times and put them into foster homes. I have a rabbit from a lab in my office right now listening to this interview.

How can the average person support the Care Act?

All they have to do is call their representative and say they want their representative to become a co-sponsor of the Companion Animal Released from Experiments Act. That bill number is 5726. It will have to be reintroduced next year, and it will have a different bill number, but it will still be called the Care Act.

Remember the Care Act; it has to do with laboratory animal adoptions. We want their representatives to sign on as co-sponsor. The more co-sponsors a bill gets, the more momentum it gains to help implement the law or pass it. It's a way to show support.

With your little bunny running around your feet right now. What else would you like EDEN readers to know we still need to cover today?

I know it's hard sometimes for people to get their heads around the whole issue of animal testing and what they think about it. With the Care Act, it doesn't matter what somebody thinks about animal experiments. All we have to do is agree that animals should have a chance at life if they are no longer wanted. That's why I think it should be very easy for this bill to be bipartisan and for your legislators to support it. You are not asking them to take a position on animal testing. All you have to do is agree that the animal has a chance at life and that there's a group that wants to help place them.

I'm so grateful that you're out there with the torch leading this forge. Everyone reading this in The Eden Magazine will take it upon themselves to contact their representatives.