Why Staples? What is H LS? Q&A

[Guest guest]

Staples has been caught in the middle of the night delivering office supplies to H LS. The employees are in clothing hiding their faces and identities. What has Staples got to hide? The fact that they are the number one supplier of office supplies to the most notorious puppy killing lab in the world? Frequently Asked Questions: What is H LS?Huntingdon LifeSciences is the 3rd largest CRO in the world and the largest animal testing facility inall of Europe.What is a CRO (Contract Research Organization) ?A CRO, or Contract Research Organization is a lab whose businesscomes from contractual work from other pharmaceutical and chemicalcompanies. They do not develop products or research disease andtreatment; they test products. As a CRO H LS will test any product onany animal for any company that has enough money to pay them to doso.How long has H

LS been in existence?H LS has been open and killing animals since 1952. The lab willcelebrate its 50th Birthday December 1, 2002. (Don’t miss theNational Protest! Check out www.DECEMBER1. net)Where is H LS located?H LS has 3 facilities: two in England and one in America. Its main site is Huntingdon ResearchCenter (Huntingdon LifeSciences; Woolley Road; Alconbury; Huntingdon; Cambridgeshire; PE284HS; Phone (from the U.S.): 011 44 1480 892 000; Fax (from the U.S.):011 44 1480 892 205; Email: sales (AT) ukorg (DOT) huntingdon. com).H LS also runs an Eye Research Center in England (Huntingdon LifeSciences' Eye Research; Barric Lane; Occold; Suffolk; IP23 7PX;

Fax(from the U.S.): 011 44 1379 672291).H LS’s only U.S. site is in New Jersey. Called the “PrincetonResearch Center” in an effort to associate itself with the prestigeof Princeton, this facility is actually located 30 minutes north ofPrinceton in East Millstone, near New Brunswick in Central New Jersey(HLS Inc.; P.O. Box 2360; Mettlers Road; East Millstone; NJ;08875-2360; Phone: (732) 873-2550; Fax: (732) 873-8513).How many animals does HLS use? H LS kills approximately 180,000 animals every year, or 500 per day. Average numbers of specific animals are as follows (yearly): Dogs(2600); Cats (400); Rodents (132,894); Rabbits (5106); Fish (10,300);Birds (7800); Primates (1700); other animals

(19200). These figures were obtained by averaging out the number of animalslisted in USDA reports and other published reports from otheroverseers and government regulatory agents, over the past few years. It is estimated that, at any one time, there are 70,000 animalsimprisoned at H LS waiting to die.What kinds of animals do they use?As a contract lab, H LS uses whatever animal(s) they are instructed toby the customer contracting the experiment. These include dogs,cats, rats, mice, rabbits, fish, birds, non-human primates, and “farmanimals.” When using dogs, labs, including H LS, often use Beagles as they arevery passive and unwilling to bite. Their docile nature decreasesresistance to the process of shoving tubes down their throats,restraining them, etc. (We’d like them to use a Pit-Bull and see howfar they get.)What products does H LS test?H LS tests

whatever they are hired to test. They provide fulldevelopment programs to get agrochemicals onto the market (such aspesticides, herbicides, weed-killers, fertilizers, etc.). They also test household products such as detergents, tanninglotions, diet pills, food wrapping plastic, coffee sweeteners, somepharmaceuticals etc. Viagra was tested at H LS, as was Olestra, afat-free “oil” that was found safe in animal tests at H LS butcausedanal leakage in humans.What laws exist to protect laboratory animals?Laws protecting “laboratory animals” are very limited in the U.S. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is the most commonly cited legalprotection given to animals in labs. However, the AWA is not anprovision designed specifically for “lab animals.” It is designedtoprovide (minimal) protection for all animals, as defined by the Actas, ”…any live or dead dog, cat, monkey (nonhuman primate

mammal),guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm-blooded animal, asthe Secretary may determine is being used, or is intended for use,for research, testing, experimentation, or exhibition purposes or asa pet; but such term excludes horses not used for research purposesand other farm animals, such as, but not limited to livestock orpoultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock orpoultry used or intended for improving animal nutrition, breeding,management or production efficiency, or for improving the quality offood or fiber. With respect to a dog the term means all dogsincluding those used for hunting, security, or breeding purposes.”Additionally, the AWA merely regulates adequate food, water, housing,exercise, and veterinary care; it places no restrictions whatsoeveron what can be done to animals during actual experiments. Thefollowing provision ensures this: “Nothing in these

rules,regulations, or standards shall affect or interfere with the design,outline, or performance of actual research or experimentation by aresearch facility as determined by such research facility.”Furthermore, under the Animal Welfare Act rats, mice, birds, fish,and farm animals (which comprise 85-90% of the animals used in“research” are not considered animals and hence are not affordedeventhe minimal protection of the AWA.Read the full text of the AWA here:http://www.nal. usda.gov/ awic/legislat/ usdaleg1. htmBeyond the Animal Welfare Act, animals in laboratories are alsoafforded the “protection” of Institutional Animal Care and UseCommittees, or IACUCs. Institutions that use laboratory animals forresearch or instructional purposes are

required by Federal law toestablish an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to‘oversee and evaluate all aspects of the institution' s animal careand use program,‘ (www.IACUC.org). In actuality IACUCs are rubberstamp committees comprised of vivisectors from the institutionconducting the research. In fact, Federal law requires that only onemember of an institution’s IACUC must be an individual not officiallyaffiliated with the institution; no laws exist requiring that anyIACUC member not be an animal researcher her/himself. Hence, the“protection” afforded to animals via IACUC’s is merely a cycle ofvivisectors rubberstamping vivisectors. What is SH AC?SH AC, or Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, is an international campaignto close H LS. SH AC began in

England after 4 legendary campaigns thatclosed animal breeders revolutionized the animal rights movement. The campaign has now spread across Europe and the US, and around theworld, with anti- H LS activity in at least 15 countries (includingAmerica, Ireland, the UK, Portugal, France, Germany, South Africa,Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Holland, Indonesia, New Zealand,Austria, and Japan) and in nearly every major city in the U.S. SH AC - USA began in January 2001 when the Little Rock, AR-based firm,Stephens Inc., saved H LS from bankruptcy. As UK campaignerssteam-rolled HLS, the lab turned to the US for financial backers torescue it, as no company in England would touch it with a 10-footpole. American activists took a stand against allowing our countryto be a dumping ground for things that more progressive countrieshave kicked out. SH AC - USA was formed to target the H LS’s New Jerseyfacility, its US

affiliates, and to pose a firm resistance to H LS’seyeing America as a safe haven.Shouldn’t we be targeting the vivisection industry as a whole ratherthan just one lab?Both the vivisection and animal rights activists agree: the H LScampaign is an attack on the entire vivisection industry. In a6/13/02 Financial Times article, Frankie Trull, President of the U.S.Foundation for Bio-medical Research (a vivisection- funded PR group)marked it as a gateway campaign, telling a conference on the ‘threatof animal rights activism’ that, “…attacks on H LS threaten(ed)theentire scientific[sic] research community.”The vivisection industry is enormous, politically connected, and verywell-funded. Taking on a select, winnable portion of it allows us tomake a huge dent while building a larger, stronger movement tocontinue in the direction of obliterating animal testing.Closing H LS will send ripples

throughout the entire animal researchindustry, and it is fighting harder than ever to make sure we don’twin. A line has been drawn in the sand between animal testing andanimal rights, and both sides recognize H LS as the battleground.Won’t ending animal testing in Western countries just send it“Third World” countries where standards are lower and it will be worse forthe animals?Such a move is considered highly unlikely by scientists. In short,these countries do not have the infrastructure to support thevivisection industry. Close communication between the company developing the product andthe company testing it is necessary. Major chemical andpharmaceutical companies are not going to move to Third Worldcountries because, (a) CEO’s, Boards and Management have no interestin living there, (b) these countries are not prime locations forrunning their company or promoting their

product.Additionally, quality control issues arise: (1) These countriessimply do not have the technology and resources to conduct testingthat uses sophisticated equipment. One example is qualityelectricity as opposed to fluctuating amperage, etc. (2) Outsideagencies evaluate the testing and it is unlikely regulators are goingto travel to the Third World to do so. If these countries had theirown regulatory agencies, quality control again becomes an issue. (3)Companies who test their products on animals avoid liability whenthese products cause problems in humans. So, when the lawsuits comedown and the jury learns the drug was tested in Vietnam, Pakistan,etc., the plaintiff’s will receive higher rewards.[Note: the above answer was informed by M.D.’s from Americans ForMedical Advancement. ]Isn’t it more important to get people to go vegan/end the furtrade/stop hunting/etc. than close this one

laboratory?Unarguably stopping all animal suffering is important. Some feel itis more important to work for “farm animals” because a largernumberof animals are killed for food, or fur because the fur trade isalready weakened, etc. However, it will not be the HLS campaign - orany other campaign against a different issue - but a strong movementthat attacks all animal abuse, that achieves animal liberation. Andthe HLS campaign has done more to build an effective animal rightsmovement than any campaign before it.Vivisection was not chosen because it is particular. Rather, the H LScampaign presented, for the first time, an opportunity to join handswith a more sophisticated movement, one with four previous victoriesdriving it, and build the type of movement that will be necessary ifwe are to achieve animal liberation. No other example in thegrassroots has presented such an opportunity.SH AC views

this campaign within a broader agenda of animal rights. Our outreach events include information on numerous animal issues. The H LS campaign has planted the seed of animal rights as alegitimate political struggle for many people