Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Tuesday, May 14, 2002 |
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Karnataka
By M.Raghuram
The PETA chief functionary and nominee of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA), Anuradha Sawhney, has brought to light how animals are treated at the institute. Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Sawhney said she had documented the conditions of animals used for experiments at the NIV, one of the premier institutes of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Doctors from the Bombay Veterinary College made an inspection after her visit and confirmed the condition of animals. Ms. Sawhney led a team from the CPCSEA which made a surprise inspection on May 8. The veterinarians paid a visit to the facility on May 11. After an inspection in July last year by the consultant to CPCSEA, Syed Qadri, the NIV was directed to suspend its experiments. Ten months after that, the PETA video footage and photographs reveal that the atrocious condition of the animal house. Talks with the officer in-charge of the animal house, showed that experiments may still be going on despite the ban. The facility houses 1,725 animals, including rhesus monkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, goats, and others. The violations found at the site by Ms. Sawhney and her team include poor ventilation, cages so small that rabbits can hardly move, contaminated food, no water supply for many animals, overcrowding, lack of veterinary care for animals suffering from illness or injury etc. The inspectors were kept waiting for an hour before being granted entry. She said that those in charge of the facility attempted to mislead the inspectors. The 37 monkeys kept in small cages exhibited symptoms of zoochosis, a debilitating psychological illness caused due to severe stress and confinement. The member of the inspection team and Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Bombay Veterinary College, Gaekwad, found that several monkeys were deformed: one was paralysed and the others had their toes or fingers missing which could be as a result of their attempts to escape or accidents. Three of the monkeys were unable to extend their hind legs as they had arthritis or due to atrophy from lack of exercise. Many of the monkeys were apparently not treated for skin diseases and patches of hair were missing. Some of them could not close their lower lips and a few had no teeth. One monkey was suffering from severe anaemia. The water provided to the monkeys had the larvae of insects. K.S. Manja, Additional. Director, Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) says physiologically, animals are not exactly like people. So extrapolating test results from a mouse to a man is unreliable at the best of times. When animals are kept under stress and surrounded by filth, and without adequate food or water, there is no talk of science here but it is only sadism. A show-cause notice has been issued on behalf of the CPCSEA to the NIV asking why the animal house should not be closed down.
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