Activist group calls on new WSU president to end use of dogs in medical research

Detroit — An activist group staged a protest Wednesday at Wayne State University against the school's use of dogs in its medical research, presenting new WSU President Kimberly Andrews Espy with her first controversy on the second day of her post.

About two dozen people attended the protest organized by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit organization working to promote alternatives to the use of animals in medical education and research. 

WSU has been using dogs in its research since 1991, a long-standing issue for those who are ethically opposed to the use of animals in scientific research. WSU says the use of animals in its research is rare and that the dogs are used to find new strategies for the treatment of congestive heart failure and hypertension. Other research institutions also use animals for research and training. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says it's wrong.

During the protest, PCRM leaders delivered petitions to WSU officials with signatures from 104,243 people across Michigan who want research involving dogs to stop.

Ryan Merkley, director of research advocacy for PCRM, wants President Espy to take action to end dog research at WSU.

"We are really hoping her office and she take a really close look at these experiments (and realize) they haven't yielded anything," said Merkley. "Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in Michigan, it's the number one killer nationwide and Wayne State is not doing anything with these experiments to address that."

Espy, who started her job Monday as WSU's 13th president, was not available for comment.

WSU issued a statement regarding its use of research involving animals, saying it was relatively rare.

"Although use of animals other than mice or rats is uncommon at Wayne State, we do have one federally funded research project involving dogs that is working on new strategies for the treatment of congestive heart failure and hypertension," the statement said. "The NIH continues to fund this research because its scientists view Wayne State's research data and peer-reviewed journal articles as valuable contributions to cardiovascular research. Only the top 10 percent of all NIH grants in this field are funded, so if the research was not productive and valuable it would not continually receive competitive funding."

Last year, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an opinion that the Department of Health and Human Services should create rules for the humane treatment of animals that are in line with federal standards. Her opinion was prompted by a letter from State Rep. Matt Koleszar, D-Plymouth, who requested it in part because of the controversial animal experiments at WSU. Nessel said her opinion does not mean that currently operating animal experiments must stop until those rules and registration processes are complete.

Protestors on Wednesday said they wanted to send a message to Espy in her earliest days on the job.

"We want President Espy in her new role to consider the useless animal testing and know that simulated testing and other methods which are more effective and humane are available," said Gayle Bowman, 59.

Paul Reagan, 70, has protested WSU's use of animals in research before and said he is protesting again because there has been no progress on the issue.

"I was here last year and what really disturbed me is that another year has gone by, and these animals another 12 months are subjected to this torture," he said.