Dogs in Desperate Situation at UCSF [Revised] from First, Do No Harm, August 2006, Part One

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Dear Advocates for Animals: Am sending revised version (below) of August newsletter "First, Do No Harm" article "Dogs in Desperate Situation at UCSF." My apologies for several slight inaccuracies in the first version. ___________ Dogs in Desperate Situation at UCSF Somewhere between one hundred and three hundred dogs will have been incarcerated and exploited by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in a variety of experiments during the fiscal year ending September 2006. Research protocols released by UCSF in December 2005 documented nine projects involving the planned use of a total of 985 dogs over the

next one to three years. The protocols indicated plans to use dogs in experiments regarding cardiovascular, bladder and spinal diseases. Dogs used in these projects will suffer significant surgical mutilation, and some may die due to the severity of their injuries. Those who survive to the projects' end points will likely be euthanized. Letters of concern about experiments on dogs, as well as the care and use of other animals at UCSF, have been addressed to state legislators, San Francisco supervisors, members of UCSF's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop. Yet there has been no response from any supervisor, IACUC member nor Chancellor Bishop. However, Vigil for Animals (the small grassroots group of animal advocates who produce this newsletter) did receive one positive response and some help from the office of State

Senator Carole Migden. Through her office, a three-page list of questions and concerns regarding UCSF's care and use of animals was submitted (in February 2006) to the university for response. As this goes to print (8/23/06), word was just received from Senator Migden's office that UCSF had finally replied, and a copy of their response is in the mail. One of the most alarming projects exploiting dogs at UCSF involves the study of atrial fibrillation and its relation to congestive heart failure (CHF), devised by Dr. Jeffrey Olgin, Principal Investigator. Dr. Olgin's protocol (IACUC Application #A43109-22783) cited plans to use up to 548 dogs over a three-year period. Despite receiving many letters of complaint about the project, UCSF began to acquire dogs for it early in 2005. Subsequently, the project has caused the deaths of at least 40 dogs - who may have

suffered any number of researcher-induced adverse effects, such as labored breathing, abdominal bloating and acute heart failure. Strangely, amid all of the complaints addressed to UCSF from community advocates for dogs, university officials told the SF BAY GUARDIAN (10/12/05) that they had found a way to use mice in Dr. Olgin's project and thus would use fewer than 75 dogs. Yet when more information was requested regarding the project's use of mice and fewer dogs, UCSF could provide no documentation. Two cardiologists - John J. Pippin, M.D., Fellow of the American College of Cardiology (F.A.C.C.), and Moneim A. Fadali, M.D., F.A.C.C. - have severely criticized the use of dogs in experiments regarding congestive heart failure. According to Dr. Pippin, "The mechanical methods for artificially producing heart failure, valve avulsion and atrial

fibrillation are truly sadistic and non-physiological. They have no relation to causes of the human conditions, and the resulting disorders are not surrogates for human diseases." And in a letter to Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, Dr. Fadali stated: "The sad part of the story is ignoring that there are so many versatile, available, better, more reliable and scientific alternatives to know what we need to know. At its very core, animal experimentation is merely a front and a facade....Vivisectors may try drugs, gadgets or procedures on animals a thousand and one times, but the moment they move on to the human condition they will be experimenting on humans." NOTE: Another UCSF project (IACUC Application #A1644-00961) regarding heart disease, devised by Dr. Michael Dae, Principal Investigator, was terminated in late 2004. The project caused the deaths of 50 to

70 German shepherd and mixed-breed dogs, along with an estimated 64 pigs, 218 rabbits, 75 mice and 80 rats. _____________ For a hard copy of "First, Do No Harm" (August 2006), please send a stamped self-addressed envelope to me (Bob O'Brien) at 311 - 11th Avenue, #15, San Francisco, CA 94118. BOB O'BRIEN PS: If you do NOT want to continue to receive updates from Vigil for Animals, please send me a return message saying "cancel."

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