Campus community fighting back against extremists
UCLA faculty, staff and students have formed a group to demonstrate support for biomedical research involving laboratory animals and show solidarity with scientists subjected to increasing harassment by anti–animal research extremists.
The group, UCLA Pro-Test, is organizing an April 22 campus rally. While details are still being worked out, plans call for speakers representing the research community and campus leadership, as well as patient advocates. Among those listed as speakers on the group's
website are Scott Waugh, executive vice chancellor and provost, and Dr. Gerald S. Levey, vice chancellor for medical sciences and dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Since at least 2003, UCLA researchers and administrators have been subjected to an organized campaign of harassment intended to halt the use of animals in research. Extremists have claimed responsibility for placing incendiary devices on the doorsteps of private residences and under vehicles, torching a UCLA commuter van, and vandalizing property. Extremists also have made numerous physical threats and staged multiple demonstrations at private homes — sometimes banging on doors and windows in the middle of the night and wearing masks to conceal their identity.
"All this while, we haven't risen up as a group and said, 'Enough is enough.' The time has come," said David Jentsch, an associate professor of psychology who is taking a lead role in organizing UCLA Pro-Test. In February, extremists claimed responsibility for torching Jentsch's vehicle outside his home.
Research involving laboratory animals has enhanced our understanding of how the human body functions and has led to the development of lifesaving procedures and medicines, including radiation therapy and other cancer treatments, vaccines, open-heart surgery, mental health treatments and organ transplantation. There is overwhelming agreement among physicians and scientists worldwide that most of the major medical discoveries in recent decades would not have been possible without the use of laboratory animals.
UCLA Pro-Test is modeled after a group formed by Oxford University students in England to counter the protests of extremists seeking to block the construction of a research facility. The
Oxford group has been credited with helping to rally public support for animal-based research and against extremism. A related group,
Speaking of Research, also rallies support for animal research.
"It's very exciting that students, scientists, patients and members of the public on both sides of the Atlantic are willing to stand up in support of the continuing importance of animal-based research," said Laurie Pycroft, founder of the U.K. Pro-Test movement.
More on animal research at UCLA.
