Pound seizure shocks Sri Lanka

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2007:

 

 

Pound seizure shocks Sri Lanka

 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka--Requi-sitioning

shelter animals for laboratory use, the mostly

banned and discredited practice called " pound

seizure " in the U.S., is now reaching Asian

awareness through the story of Wussie, a gentle

former street dog.

Told first by Sri Lankan newspapers,

Wussie's story went global via the Hong

Kong-based Asian Animal Protection Network.

Scientific institutions and regulators in New

Delhi, Mexico City, Cambridge, U.K., and

Washington, D.C. were soon investigating their

unwitting involvement.

Wussie is sole survivor of a series of

surgeries on dogs directed by parasitologist

R.P.V.J. Rajapakse. Rajapakse claimed to be

seeking an herbal treatment for diabetes--a

potentially lucrative field for scientific

exploration, but far outside his usual field.

Related Champa Fernando of the Sri Lankan

organization KACPAW in a May 30, 2007 complaint

to the Sri Lanka Veterinary Council, " On 22 and

23 May 2007, Professor Rajapakse, head of the

Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at the

University of Peradeniya, adopted three dogs

from our shelter, saying that one would be for

his Gohagoda home and the other two for his

wife's home in Kiribathgoda. The three dogs were

in perfect health. They had been spayed and

vaccinated against rabies, parvo virus, and

distemper.

" On 28 May 2007, we discovered to our

horror that Rajapakse took them straight to the

government veterinary hospital at Getambe, where

extensive invasive surgery was carried out on all

three dogs by Wasantha Kumara, " the hospital

chief.

Wussie " was opened up, probed for a

long time, and then stitched, " Fernando wrote.

" The second dog apparently had her adrenal glands

removed. She died the next morning. The third

dog, " named Polly, " had her pancreas removed.

We took the two surviving dogs back to our

shelter, " Fernando said, " and obtained

treatment for them from the veterinary faculty of

the University of Peradeniya. "

Polly died under treatment.

Rajapakse was the only University of

Peradeniya veterinary faculty member who was

involved in the experimental surgeries, Fernando

stated.

" At the Peradeniya Police Station, where

we lodged a complaint, Rajapakse said the

surgery was carried out to do hysterectomies, "

Fernando alleged. " To the dean of the veterinary

faculty, he said that the surgery involved

removal of the spleens and admitted that he had

lied to KACPAW when he took the dogs. However,

it has been established through scanning that

both dogs who survived surgery had their spleens

intact. Rajapakse also said the dog who died did

so soon after surgery, whereas she actually died

the next morning, obviously after much suffering.

" Wasantha Kumara refused to divulge the

nature of the surgery done on the two surviving

dogs when he was asked by the dean of the

veterinary faculty to provide the information,

which was crucial to treat the two dogs, "

Fernando added. " We were compelled to request

the Governor of the Central Province, Tikiri

Kobbekaduwa, to intervene. "

Said Rajapakse in a June 7, 2007 written

statement, " I completely assure and prove that

these three dogs were used for experimentation in

the welfare and betterment of animals and

veterinary medicine. I was doing a trial of

therapy for diabetes mellitus with medicines of

plant origin and gene therapy. In the first dog

the adrenal gland was removed. In the second dog

the pancreas was removed. Nothing was removed

from the third dog, " who was " subjected to

exploratory surgery as a control, " Rajapakse

asserted.

" Before starting this experiment we

extensively searched for any legal or ethical

parameters in animal experimentation, " Rajapakse

insisted. " And we were unable to find any

guidelines or restrictions on animal

experimentation in Sri Lanka. On those grounds

we initiated the experimentation, with the

available guidelines of animal experimentation in

some other countries. "

Rajapakse's entire explanation raised

questions. The American Diabetes Associ-ation

warned in 2000 that while diabetics often buy

herbal supplements that they hope will help them,

some herbal supplements can cause harmful

responses, and the effects of most are

completely untested.

Explained Bernadette Mariott, former

director of the Office of Dietary Supple-ments at

the National Institutes of Health, to CNN

medical correspondent Holly Firfer, " There are a

number of botanical supplements that are marketed

in this country and throughout the world as

helpful for diabetics, but we have very little

data on these in terms of scientific clinical

trials. "

Rajapakse may have been hoping to fill

some of the gaps in knowledge. He claimed to

have published scientific papers on herbal

therapy for diabetes. However, neither

Fernando, ANIMAL PEOPLE, nor animal advocate

Michael O'Leary, an Irish resident of Sri Lanka,

were able to find any.

Immediately evident, however, was that

obtaining the dogs under false pretenses and

beginning the experiments without review by an

Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee would

have violated laws in the U.S., Britain, most

of Europe, and India, and could exclude

publication of the findings in reputable medical

journals. In addition, using random-source dogs

at all in pharmacological research is now widely

discouraged because of the risk that unknown

genetic factors or diseases could influence the

findings.

Pointed out O'Leary, " Rajapakse should

be familiar with U.K. procedures, as he claims

to have spent some time in 1985-1986 at the

University of Cambridge Department of Clinical

Veterinary Medicine. The U.K. Animals

(Scientific Procedures) Act became law in 1986.

It would be very odd if an ambitious veterinary

practitioner studying in England at the very time

that the Act came into force would not have got

wind of it.

" Rajapakse in his bio data states that he

is a member of the editorial board for BioMed

Central Veterinary Research, U.K., " O'Leary

added. " The BMC editorial board provides that

'Submission of a manuscript to BMC Veterinary

Research implies thatŠany experimental research

on animals must follow internationally recognized

guidelinesŠ Manu-scripts may be rejected if the

editorial office considers that the research has

not been carried out within an ethical framework,

e.g. if the severity of the experimental

procedure is not justified by the value of the

knowledge gained.' It is ironic, " O'Leary told

ANIMAL PEOPLE, " that Rajapakse did not himself

adhere to those guidelines. "

Exposés

Sagarica Rajakarunanayake, president of

the Sri Lankan charity Sathva Mithra [means

Friends of Animals], exposed the Wussie case in

the June 8, 2007 edition of The Island

newspaper. Marisa de Silva of the Sunday Times

followed up two days later.

" We are currently conducting an inquiry

into the matter, " Sri Lanka Veterinary Council

registrar K.N.T. Kandaragama told de Silva.

" Once a comprehensive probe has been conducted,

the Council will take the necessary course of

action, " Kandaragama added, noting that he could

not " give a definite time frame as to when the

investigation will be complete. "

Rajapakse told de Silva that he hoped to " take

action against these people who are trying to

defame me. "

During the next few days Fernando and

O'Leary received several e-mails purporting to be

from prominent scientists and scientific

organizations, warning them against defaming

Rajapakse. Checking with the alleged senders,

O'Leary discovered that many and perhaps all were

forged.

" It's not my job to question the origin

or the parentage of the animal brought to me for

surgery or otherwise, " Wasantha Kumara told de

Silva, disregarding that laws and scientific

standards in most of the developed world require

researchers to identify the sources of

experimental subjects.

For example, the U.S. Laboratory Animal

Welfare Act of 1966 established that researchers

have an obligation to establish that they legally

possess any animal they use. The act was amended

into the present Animal Welfare Act in 1971.

Further amendments in 1990 extended the

professional obligation to ensure that stolen

animals are not used.

Observed Save Our Friends Associ-ation

founder Eva Ruppel, better known in Sri Lanka as

Padma, " We have no proper laws in Sri Lanka

banning or regulating the use of animals in

research. But having deceived KACPAW to give

these dogs for adoption while in fact they were

taken straight to the government hospital to be

cut up is illegal even with the present

legislation. "

Said Wasantha Kumara, " There was no

tattoo or identification number on the animals to

imply that they belonged to KACPAW. Since the

animals were brought to me by a researcher such

as Professor Rajapakse, who is held in high

repute in veterinary circles, I just did as I

was instructed. This looks to be a case of

professional jealousy, " Wasantha Kumara claimed,

" as the government hospital gets more business

than the veterinary teaching hospital, " but

Fernando pointed out that the teaching hospital

has all the business it wants.

As well as heading the government

hospital, Wasantha Kumara is a director of Pets

V Care, a firm often hired by animal welfare

projects. A Pets V Care spokesperson anonymously

stipulated that Wasantha Kumara is not on the

Pets V Care working staff.

 

" Follow the Buddha "

 

Learning that Rajapakse was due to speak

on June 22, 2007 at the First North American

Parasitology Congress, organised by Sociedad

Mexicana de Parasitología A.C. and the American

Society of Parasitologists, Indian legislator

and People for Animals founder Maneka Gandhi

forwarded details of the Wussie case to

conference co-chair Ana Flisser Steinbruch.

" We are presently taking measures

regarding Professor Rajapakse, " Flisser

responded, but at the ANIMAL PEOPLE press date

Flisser had not yet responded to inquiries about

what those measures were.

Rajapakse on June 15, 2007 sent Mrs.

Gandhi his resumé with an appeal for help.

Responded Mrs. Gandhi, " I would suggest that you

resign and go and follow the spirit of the

Buddha, whose foremost tenet was not to kill. "

Resumé

Rajapakse's resumé stated that he held a

" Degree of Doctor of Philosophy " obtained from

the University of Cambridge/ University of

Peradeniya 1992. "

" We have no record of the above named as

having registered as a student at this

university, " Cambridge senior records assistant

Katherine Johnson told O'Leary.

Fernando eventually established that

Rajapakse " was involved in something called a

sandwich program, in which he did part of his

research under a supervisor in a department or

laboratory at Cambridge. "

Rajapakse's resumé and rationalizations

also raised questions about his past research.

" One allegation, " Rajapakse wrote, " is that

some time ago I exported 200 canine kidneys. In

real terms we sent 86 canine samples (parts of

brain, tongue, and heart) to the USDA for

screening for a serious and devastating zoonotic

disease, toxoplasmosis. "

According to a report of the findings

published in a 2007 edition of the journal

Veterinary Parasitology, " Eighty-six street dogs

caught by the municipality were euthanized by

intravenous injection of sodium thiopentone...At

necropsy, brain, heart, tongue and blood

samples were collected and sent " to USDA

Agricultural Research Service biological science

laboratory technician Katherine Hopkins.

Hopkins had no comment when ANIMAL PEOPLE

informed her by e-mail that the USDA Animal &

Plant Health Inspection Service on February 18,

1993 began enforcing the 1990 amendments to the

Animal Welfare Act to prohibit imports of dogs

and dog parts from foreign sources that fail to

meet U.S. tracking standards.

The 1990 amendments have not been

repealed. USDA-APHIS claims to enforce even

stricter biosecurity standards now than in 1993,

but Animal Welfare Institute president Cathy Liss

opined that, " USDA is [now] not concerned with

records or sources for dogs and cats obtained

outside the U.S. For example, " Liss said, " a

Class B dealer in Arizona has been obtaining dead

cats from Mexico for sale as biological

specimens. Records showing their origin are not

required or checked. "

Nonetheless, Liss pledged that AWI would " follow up with Dr. Hopkins. "

" Wussie is fine, " Fernando updated shortly

before press time. " I still see Polly wagging

her tail and jumping up and down. I will fight

this case to the bitter end, " she pledged.

--Merritt Clifton

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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