Animal Research Rally at UCLA

This entry updates my earlier post, "J. David Jentsch Stands Up to Animal Rights Extremists."

The Los Angeles Times covered the attack on UCLA neuroscientist J. David Jentsch on April 13. This letter appeared in the Times on April 16, but is found only in the cached version, here:

The general public will remain unmoved by your story, and scientific research using lab animals will continue to decline - to the detriment of our health. How come? Animal rights organizations will continue to vilify the very research that our underfunded FDA requires to test the safety and efficacy of drugs, cosmetics and devices.

To these protesters and an ignorant public, we scientists are the enemy. Our work striving for humane treatment for animals grown specifically for research -- these aren't pets - is mocked.

The public does not fathom that this campaign will not stop until we are all vegans. Even journalists do not comprehend the extent to which scientific research is under fire. The ultimate target of animal rightists is the powerful food industry. Ironically, when they achieve their goals and bring it down, we will have no way to ensure that the vegetables we eat are safe.

H. Winet
Pasadena

The writer is a professor of orthopedic surgery and bioengineering at UCLA.

Actually, Winet is a lecturer, and the paper published a correction.

Now, today's paper reports on the competing animal research/animal rights demonstrations yesterday at the campus, "Scientists, supporters rally at UCLA for animal research."

I'll have more later ...