A national physicians group wanting an end to the use of animals as research subjects in scientific and medical studies has launched its latest advertising campaign in Denver, and it’s centered on the deaths of three research dogs in Colorado.
The , a nonprofit organization formed in 1985 and based in Washington, D.C., has targeted Denver with ads about three beagles that died in 2011 at the facility in Fort Collins.
In the poster, which went up earlier this week at bus stops in Denver and Broomfield, the PCRM calls on Colorado Department of Agriculture Commissioner John Salazar to “Shut Down Experiments on Beagles!” Also, the poster shows three beagles.
CARE Research was fined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations related to the deaths. In May 2011, the dogs, which “had recently been released from a research study,” were found dead at the CARE facility, said a USDA report.
The dogs “were not expected to have any adverse outcome” after being used in the study, according to the report. A necropsy was inconclusive about the cause of the deaths.
Salazar said the facility is regulated by the USDA and is not required to be licensed with the Colorado agency.
He wrote in an e-mail response to interview requests that his department’s authority with regard to the facility “relates only to whether they have met the Department’s import requirements related to importing pet animals into the state of Colorado.”
Salazar, who will retire in January, added that his office “would be happy to meet with (PCRM) to discuss their concerns and the boundaries of the Department’s regulatory authorities.”
A PCRM spokeswoman said the group sent a packet to Salazar explaining its position and asked him to disallow the “import” of dogs to Colorado for research purposes.
The group of 12,000 physicians advocates alternative methods of research, including microdosing, which is giving humans low doses of drugs that are not likely to trigger adverse effects, yet high enough to allow cellular responses to be studied; and “organ on a chip,” a computer-assisted process using microchips, which mirror the functions of human organs.
“There are better, more human-predictive ways to test drugs,” said Dr. John J. Pippin, director of academic affairs with PCRM.
Animal research has stalled in recent years, he said, and his group is looking beyond dependency on animal use.
“Recently, it’s been hard to show a direct link to research on animals and benefit to human patients,” Pippin said.
CARE officials did not return calls seeking comment.
Supporters of animal research say the process is irreplaceable and such research continues to produce results that save and extend human lives.
“Practically every medical and scientific advancement in the last 100 years has depended on animal research,” said Liz Hodge, director of communications with the in Washington, D.C.
U.S. regulations on animal research call for animals to be treated humanely and for them not to suffer any pain.
As Sylvia Puc waited for a bus on Lincoln Street near East Fourth Avenue, she sized up the ad.
“Interesting,” she said.
Puc scribbled down on the ad before boarding her bus.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kierannicholson
