These are the Folks who developed modern medicine formats & procedures And they did so by using animals First. For the sake of our children & Grandchildren we better hope they win this war against ARA folk who would take us back to the dark ages.Scripps Howard News Service
Biomedical industry fights to keep animals in labs
By JIM SPENCER, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Wed, 11/04/2009
http://www.scrippsnews.com/content/biomedical-industry-fights-keep-animals-labs"Ever had leprosy? Thanks to animal research, you won't."
That message, emblazoned on 15 billboards around Minneapolis-St. Paul,
Minn., strikes at the heart of a largely hidden but heated health care
battle being waged beyond the national debate over access to medical
care.
The billboards are part of a new, aggressive national push by
biomedical researchers to promote and defend the use of animals to
test drugs and medical devices. Across the country, the campaign is
also playing out on cable TV commercials, Web sites, Facebook postings
and Twitter tweets.
Campaign organizers say a serious drop in public support of animal
research for scientific and medical reasons forced their hand. From
2000 to 2008, they say, support for research using animals shrank from
70 percent to 54 percent. A Pew Foundation poll in July found that
only 52 percent of Americans support such research.
That's why the Foundation for Biomedical Research is investing more
than $1 million in its "Research Saves" campaign. Pollsters told
foundation president Frankie Trull that without a widespread public
education effort, support for scientific animal research will drop
below 50 percent next year and could lead to legislative and
regulatory research restrictions that Trull says would have huge
implications on public policy and human health.
"We need a celebrity spokesperson, but can't find one," said Dick
Bianco, an associate professor of surgery at the University of
Minnesota Medical School, who is part of the campaign. "If we could
get a celebrity, that would change everything. By nature, we're a
bunch of introverted nerds."
Supporters of animal research believe advances in the treatment of
many diseases are at stake in this campaign. The result is a full
frontal assault on the emotions of average citizens and a
no-holds-barred verbal attack on the violent methods of a few extreme
animal rights activists. While the leprosy billboards speak
unequivocally and, organizers believe, effectively, the campaign's
most effective weapon so far seems to be a TV commercial featuring a
physician who is a breast cancer survivor who also conducts breast
cancer research using animals. In the spot, she holds and addresses a
mouse.
"One of the problems we have nationally is that people don't see the
connection between science and biomedical research and progress," said
Mayo Clinic research dean Dr. Michael Joyner. "Things like heart
valves and statins wouldn't be here without animal research."
Opponents of animal research answer that public aversion to hurting
animals is tipping support away from medical testing on animals and
eventually will force academic institutions and businesses to find
alternatives.
Andrew Rowan, the chief scientific officer of the Humane Society of
the United States, calls it futile. "We're on the downward slope of
animal research," he said. "It's going to continue to go down no
matter what we do."
The Research Saves campaign "is a fairly pitiful attempt to gather
support for a cruel industry," added Kathy Guillermo, vice president
of laboratory investigations for People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA).
Trull says poll numbers are starting to reflect progress two months
into her group's yearlong campaign. With 170 billboards in 10
metropolitan areas and 3,000 commercials airing on 33 TV networks, the
Foundation for Biomedical Research says it has already boosted support
for medical animal research to nearly 61 percent.
However, most women (52.2 percent) and people ages 18 to 24 (55
percent) remain opposed. Democrats (50.6 percent) barely approve.
"The big challenge is sustainability," Trull said. "We think the
American people don't understand. We need animal research to cure
terrible diseases." Groups opposing animal research have effectively
muddled that message, Trull said. Most opponents "think they're saving
puppies."
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service,
www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit Minneapolis Star Tribune
![[Linked Image]](http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f51/Donnie1Mac2Leod3/200px-Clan_member_crest_badge_-_Clan_Macleodsvg.png){kind=icon}
