Students and area residents settled into Lisa Link Peace Park
Thursday and Friday, protesting the use of animals in scientific
research at the University of Wisconsin.

During the event, which coincides with World Laboratory Animal
Liberation Week, activists advocated to passersby, with one
demonstrator sitting in a cage slightly larger than a
mini-fridge.

Student organization Madison Coalition for Animal Rights and
community group Alliance for Animals displayed posters of a primate
in a seemingly painful device. They also showed videos of animals
undergoing surgery for research.

“Nobody’s said it’s offensive,” Alliance
member Lori Nitzel said of the consistently graphic and bloody
images on the screen. “One person (a medical student) has
been opposed to what we’re doing. That’s
all.”

Nitzel said State Street passersby were more offended by UW
activity than the graphic display of the animals.

Helping people realize that animal research occurs at UW is the
main focus of the display, according to Nitzel.

“We’re hoping to get people thinking about these
issues,” Nitzel said.

Nitzel wants to make the community aware of animal treatment,
especially at Madison, because the university has a “pretty
miserable track record” in humane animal treatment, she
said.

“UW is known for its [animal research in] good and bad
ways,” she added.

She pointed to a study compiled by Michael Budkie, executive
director of Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, a nonprofit watchdog
group specializing in animal research, who said UW has broken the
law relating to veterinary care of animals, among other things.

Budkie said no matter how few violations any research
institution commits, he is yet to find a “humane” or
“effective” use of animal testing.

“This is no longer about science, this is about
money,” Budkie said, adding that this is an issue taxpayers
should be aware of because of the $10 billion used yearly for the
research.

Budkie said animal experimentation does not benefit human
medicine.

“There is no such thing as beneficial animal
experimentation,” he said.

Rick Lane, associate director of UW’s Research Animal
Resources Center, disagreed with the activists’ views, saying
that no matter how much evidence is presented, animal protestors
will never concur with research investigators.

Lane also defended UW’s animal-keeping policies, pointing
to accreditation requirements by both public and private
authorities that mandate humane treatment and facilities.

“If you get that type of accreditation in the
animal-research area, it’s kind of like the Good Housekeeping
Seal of Approval,” Lane said.

Some research conducted on campus is on the “cutting
edge” not only to human interests like HIV but also to
improving the lives of domestic animals,” he said.

Lane pointed to ongoing research studying cancer in cats and
dogs as an example.

“This also gives a tremendous teaching opportunity for
undergraduate to post-doctoral candidates [to conduct research]
that they can [use later in their career],” Lane said, adding
that he is “proud to be associated” with UW’s
research.

Advocates asked students to fill out cards to send to UW
Chancellor John Wiley stating their opposition to animal testing at
UW, claiming it is “unacceptable” and
“redundant.”

UW special student Stacy Taeuber, who wants to study primates in
the wild, said non-invasive research in an animal’s natural
habitat might be more effective.

“I think [lab research] is totally unnecessary…the
usefulness for animal experimentation [expired] many years ago,”
she said.