(CN) Peking U accused of using street cats for lab tests

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

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by Yu Aitong

May 11, 2010

 

Peking University Health Science Centre has been accused of using street

cats for laboratory testing, and the university has confirmed the cats were

purchased but were not bought from local sellers.

 

The Beijing News reported on Monday that the university was using cats in

its laboratory research by students.

 

The newspaper sent a reporter, who pretended to be an auditor for a

pharmacology testing class. Before the test started, a white cat weighing

less than three kilograms was hidden in a bag outside the laboratory,

waiting to be dissected.

 

Later it was brought in a wooden box specially designed for anaesthetising

without the cat scratching the laboratory staff. The staff injected 3 per

cent of a narcotic through holes on the top and side.

 

Once anaesthetised, the cat was placed on an operating table with its four

legs tied by ropes, its jaws were opened and a metal ring inserted.

 

Two and a half hours later, the test was finished and a student injected a

chemical into one of the cat's legs to kill it. A cleaner packed the body

into a plastic bag to be incinerated with that of another cat, which had

died during the same class.

 

The report said some students had asked their teachers where the cats came

from because they were curious why the laboratory cats smelled badly and

appeared dirty. The teacher told them they were wild cats from the suburbs,

and a laboratory employee explained that " a private cat seller will send

cats to the school whenever we call " .

 

The newspaper quoted an unidentified animal protection association as saying

Beijing had wild animals in the suburbs, and most cats the sellers caught

were street cats. According to a survey conducted by the Capital Animal

Welfare Association, the Beijing suburbs had at least 200,000 street cats

from 2004 to 2007.

 

The Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental

Animals, approved by the State Council in 1988, state that all experimental

animals must have known backgrounds or be artificially fed and bred under

strictly controlled conditions. Animals for experiments can be classified as

quality animals, clean animals, animals carrying no specific pathogens and

animals carrying no bacteria.

 

The Health Science Centre denied the statements by its teacher and

laboratory staff.

 

Jiang Hui , chief of the Peking University propaganda department, told the

South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) : " The university

does use cats to do experiments, but those cats were not bought from private

cat sellers. We buy them from professional animal farms. I have the formal

purchase invoice, " but he refused to give the farms' names or any further

information.

 

" We have not violated the country's regulations, " Jiang said.

 

Professor Zheng Zhenhui , chief of the school's experimental animal science

department, said: " The test the newspaper witnessed was a classic animal

test that has used cats for more than 30 years in China, and cats are the

most suitable animal for it. The country has a specific regulation to manage

`experimental animals', but experimental animals are only one type of all

animals used for experiments. The university has fed animals we are licensed

to use, but for the other animals we need during the teaching process [and

cats are one of them], we have to purchase from the market. "

 

He said there was a difference between " experimental animals " , which are

covered by state regulations, and other animals used by laboratories, which

are not regulated, and cats are among the latter.

 

The Peking University Health Science Centre, the first university on the

mainland to teach Western medicine, has more than 28,000 students.

[Guest guest]

If this cat was at least properly anaesthetized, it was more fortunate than

most. I have stumbled across many such 'experiments' done in cats at research

facilities, with surgeries performed by students who did not even know the

basic anatomy of the animal, and under minimal or no anaesthetic. Many of

these animals were then not euthanized, but were recovered (for the rest of

the experiments to be carried out) and usually died agonizing deaths from

post-operative infections and other post-operative complications, and

abysmal husbandry.

 

I guess I don't quite see why using street cats for 'research' or 'teaching'

is any different from using 'laboratory-bred' animals, when the critical

issue is the welfare of the animals, regardless of their source. I don't

mean to suggest that it is alright for people to round up roaming animals

and to sell them - whether to restaurants or research facilities. But the

more urgent issues here are a) how these animals are handled by those who

supply them (street caught or laboratory bred), b) performance of painful

procedures by people not adequately trained to carry out such procedures, c)

lack of standards, much less laws, to ensure that the animals are handled

humanely, and d) the abundance of roaming (whether feral or owned) cats in

the cities.

 

The encouraging thing from this article is that people - notably the media -

are beginning to pay attention to issues concerning the welfare of animals

in China, and are challenging the way things are done (cf., earlier posting

today on the Beijing stray cat / dog forum held 08 May).

 

Kati Loeffler

 

 

South China Morning Post

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?\

vgnextoid=5446e6232a288210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD & ss=China & s=News

by Yu Aitong

May 11, 2010

 

Peking University Health Science Centre has been accused of using street

cats for laboratory testing, and the university has confirmed the cats were

purchased but were not bought from local sellers.

 

The Beijing News reported on Monday that the university was using cats in

its laboratory research by students.

 

The newspaper sent a reporter, who pretended to be an auditor for a

pharmacology testing class. Before the test started, a white cat weighing

less than three kilograms was hidden in a bag outside the laboratory,

waiting to be dissected.

 

Later it was brought in a wooden box specially designed for anaesthetising

without the cat scratching the laboratory staff. The staff injected 3 per

cent of a narcotic through holes on the top and side.

 

Once anaesthetised, the cat was placed on an operating table with its four

legs tied by ropes, its jaws were opened and a metal ring inserted.

 

Two and a half hours later, the test was finished and a student injected a

chemical into one of the cat's legs to kill it. A cleaner packed the body

into a plastic bag to be incinerated with that of another cat, which had

died during the same class.

 

The report said some students had asked their teachers where the cats came

from because they were curious why the laboratory cats smelled badly and

appeared dirty. The teacher told them they were wild cats from the suburbs,

and a laboratory employee explained that " a private cat seller will send

cats to the school whenever we call " .

 

The newspaper quoted an unidentified animal protection association as saying

Beijing had wild animals in the suburbs, and most cats the sellers caught

were street cats. According to a survey conducted by the Capital Animal

Welfare Association, the Beijing suburbs had at least 200,000 street cats

from 2004 to 2007.

 

The Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental

Animals, approved by the State Council in 1988, state that all experimental

animals must have known backgrounds or be artificially fed and bred under

strictly controlled conditions. Animals for experiments can be classified as

quality animals, clean animals, animals carrying no specific pathogens and

animals carrying no bacteria.

 

The Health Science Centre denied the statements by its teacher and

laboratory staff.

 

Jiang Hui , chief of the Peking University propaganda department, told the

South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) : " The university

does use cats to do experiments, but those cats were not bought from private

cat sellers. We buy them from professional animal farms. I have the formal

purchase invoice, " but he refused to give the farms' names or any further

information.

 

" We have not violated the country's regulations, " Jiang said.

 

Professor Zheng Zhenhui , chief of the school's experimental animal science

department, said: " The test the newspaper witnessed was a classic animal

test that has used cats for more than 30 years in China, and cats are the

most suitable animal for it. The country has a specific regulation to manage

`experimental animals', but experimental animals are only one type of all

animals used for experiments. The university has fed animals we are licensed

to use, but for the other animals we need during the teaching process [and

cats are one of them], we have to purchase from the market. "

 

He said there was a difference between " experimental animals " , which are

covered by state regulations, and other animals used by laboratories, which

are not regulated, and cats are among the latter.

 

The Peking University Health Science Centre, the first university on the

mainland to teach Western medicine, has more than 28,000 students.