PETA cries foul on campus animal testing

Undercover investigations at UNC's research labs have once again spurred the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to encourage national health organizations to revoke University funding.

A recent UNC study of the effects that alcohol has on the brain used rats to extrapolate conclusions, and PETA officials questioned the relevance of such a study at the expense of animals.

PETA officials claimed that animals suffered while no useful information was gleaned from the study.

The group has issued a letter to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, requesting that federal funding for similar studies be denied.

Undercover investigator Kate Turlington collected evidence three years ago in the form of video footage and documentation, which PETA officials claim is proof of the unnecessary nature of the study.

Turlington said the results of the study are frivolous and not necessarily applicable to humans. She added that studies on human alcoholics would be more conclusive.

"I want to see (the NIAAA) divert funding from studies on animals that aren't helpful and funnel it into studies that are actually helpful," Turlington said.

But University officials stated that all UNC research - especially those studies conducted on animals - must pass a rigorous, multi-step approval process.

"We have high-quality committees locally and nationally that evaluate the work and find it to be of high merit," said Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor of research and economic development.

While a University committee studies the necessity of animal involvement, NIH also must approve the proposals for the studies to receive federal funding.

"Only the most competitive and most sound science gets funding at all," said John Bradfield, the University's veterinarian.

While undercover, Turlington reported that researchers working on the study called the research "gratuitous" and "silly." She claimed that the research was to bring in grant money, not to help alcoholics.

The activist group is fearful that UNC researchers would conduct similar studies in the future.

"They change the wording slightly, get another grant and kill more animals," said Hannah Schein, PETA's research and investigations associate.

Bradfield said PETA's complaints aren't based on the research conducted at UNC.

"Most extremists have a generally overarching disagreement with animal research," he said. "That person would disagree with any use of the animal."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.