Pentacrest on the University of Iowa campus. (Newspaper)
IOWA CITY — A state lawmaker is demanding that the University of Iowa immediately audit its animal testing programs and pursue alternative research methods based on a watchdog’s findings that UI researchers experimented on “donated pet dogs “, which were then “euthanized and dissected, regardless of availability”. treatments.”
Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis
“Such behavior is abhorrent, barbaric and completely unacceptable within our state,” said Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, in his June 10 letter to the Board of Regents and UI President Barbara Wilson. “If these actions were not carried out within the confines of a laboratory, they would clearly constitute criminal animal abuse.”
Collins has asked the board and the university to take three key steps:
- Review and publish findings of institutional ethical animal use standards, including deficiencies and suggested improvements.
- Audit and publish the findings of all current and pending research “to determine which individual studies and projects can transition to non-animal research methods,” including which entities fund the relevant research.
- He views his search for a new UI vice president of research “as an opportunity to work toward reducing unnecessary animal testing and implementing alternative research methods university-wide.”
Collin’s letter follows one sent by the Iowa State Director of the Humane Society of the United States to UI President Wilson in March asking the institution, in its current search for a new vice president for research, to seek candidates “who will implement policies to reduce animal testing.”
The university did not immediately respond to the Humane Society’s letter, according to Collins.
“I was concerned to learn that a letter sent to President Wilson by the Iowa state director of the Humane Society of the United States, asking the institution to reconsider its practices, has gone unaddressed,” Collins wrote. “Such disregard for the opinion of experts is simply unacceptable. The greatness of our state and our institutions is based on the sincere consideration of the contributions of learned individuals and stakeholder organizations.”
UI research
Peter Matthes, UI vice president for external affairs
In a response to Collins sent Tuesday — copying the Humane Society — UI Vice President for External Affairs Peter Matthes said the lack of response was an oversight and he has asked the research office to contact the Humane Society.
“At the University of Iowa, we take the ethical treatment of animals very seriously,” Matthes said. “All UI policies and guidelines are published and an anonymous tip line is available for those with concerns.”
Additionally, he said, the university earlier this year received reaccreditation of its animal care programs — with that report characterizing UI’s operation as an “exemplary program.”
Regarding research involving dogs, Matthes said, “The dogs were given anesthesia.”
“When the dogs were under anesthesia, sand flies, which are vectors for the transmission of the disease, sat in the dog’s ear for 30 minutes,” he said. “Dogs don’t feel anything during this time.”
The university in February 2023 released a longer Q&A about “leishmaniasis research involving dogs”. In that paper, the university reported that the dogs were not infected with the potentially fatal condition for the study.
“The dogs included in the study were previously diagnosed with leishmaniosis, a fatal disease, and then enrolled with the informed consent of their caretakers,” according to the UI Q&A. “The research was initiated by people whose dogs suffered from leishmaniasis. Those caregivers worked side by side with the UI researchers to determine what would happen during the study and what insights and treatments would be gained.”
About the disease
Leishmaniasis, according to UI Q&A, is a disease caused by a microscopic parasite, with symptoms that include skin sores, fever and swelling of organs. In some cases, it can be fatal.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leishmaniasis is found in about 90 countries throughout the tropics, subtropics, and southern Europe. In North Africa, where the disease is common, leishmaniasis affects young children under the age of 5.
Leishmaniasis is spread through sandflies.
“Domestic dogs often serve as a natural reservoir for the disease, meaning that human infections can occur when the parasite is passed from infected dogs to humans through sand fly bites,” according to the university.
Between 20,000 and 40,000 people die each year from this disease, and its presence is increasing in the United States.
“This research is part of the University of Iowa’s research mission to improve and extend the lives of humans and animals,” according to the UI Q&A. “Work to develop safe and effective vaccines for dogs and humans is ongoing.
“At this time, there is no vaccine approved for use in humans.”
Dog vaccines are licensed in Brazil and Europe, but not in the United States.
“Finding ways to prevent the spread of parasites from infected dogs is essential both to help other dogs in the community not become infected, but also to help protect children and other vulnerable populations,” according to the university.
“Development of new treatments for dogs often requires dog studies,” the university reported. “Animal research has revealed many remarkable life-saving and life-extending treatments for cats, dogs, farm animals, wildlife and endangered species.”
UI’s Leishmaniasis research was funded through a National Institutes of Health grant totaling $2.4 million over five years. One of the project’s investigators was also supported by a UI Interdisciplinary Immunology Postdoctoral Training Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
‘Outdated Animal Experiments’
In raising his concerns, Collins cited recent testimony on Capitol Hill by Anthony Fauci about “deeply disturbing revelations about taxpayer-funded research.”
Congressional inquiries, Collins said, revealed “disturbing animal testing practices involving the sharing of tax dollars by Dr. Fauci and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.”
This funding was related to experiments involving beagles in Tunisia. And further investigation led Collins to practices “in our state.”
In response to Matthes’ response about leishmaniasis research at the UI, Preston Moore, Iowa state director for the Humane Society, told the university Wednesday that “the reliance on outdated animal experiments is hindering a full understanding of how drugs, chemicals and other household products can adversely affect people’s health and hinder potential cures and advances in medicine.”
“Animal experimentation is falsely portrayed as a necessary evil to ensure the health and safety of humans or the environment,” Moore wrote in an email to Matthes. “It is increasingly clear that continued reliance on animal testing can hinder — rather than help — efforts to ensure that products designed to combat human diseases and conditions are effective.”
That, he said, is because applying what works in a species “under artificial conditions” to what works in a human in the real world has always been a rough approximation.
“A drug that might work in rats often won’t work in monkeys, and a drug that works in monkeys often won’t work in humans,” according to Moore.
In its search for a new vice president, Moore said, the UI can be a leader by considering candidates “who not only possess the necessary expertise in their respective fields, but also have demonstrated a commitment to using the methods of non-animal testing whenever possible and supporting the development of new non-animal methods.”
Vanessa Miller covers higher education for the Gazette.
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
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