October 29, 2002

Protect Our Earth’s Treasures (P.O.E.T.), a Columbus-based animal rights organization, has learned that this September, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), funded Lawrence E. Mathes, Ph.D., College of Veterinary Medicine, and Maria Hadjiconstantinou-Neff, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, $331,782, to continue the “Cats on Meth” experiments under the Michael Podell grant number.

The project no longer titled, Feline Model of Neuroaids and Drug Abuse, but now Psychostimulants and Lentiviral Infection of Neural Cell has the same objectives as the Podell grant. From the current grant abstract, “Thus, the overall objective of this study is to evaluate the synergistic effects of FIV infection and chronic METH with acute "binges" on immune function and viral interaction, neurobehavior and neurophysiology, and neurodegeneration.”

Members of P.O.E.T. are outraged that this experiment has been allowed to continue.

“This is a slap in the face to animal protectionists and taxpayers that this project has been started for a second time. Especially when we learned the reasons why,” states Robin Russell, Director of P.O.E.T..

An e-mail dated June 10, 2002, that was sent to Dr. Yonushonis, Director of Laboratory Animals, from Earle Holland, Director Research Communications, with copies to C. Bradley Moore, Vice President for Research, and Lee C. Tashjian Jr, Vice President for University Relations reads:

The experiment is not to continue because it is worthwhile, important, has the potential to help humans. No, the work continues, “so it doesn’t look like the animal rights protestors won on this issue.”

The campaign to stop this experiment a second time is gearing up. Protests are planned later this week.