Remembrance for the Animals Used In the Labs at The Ohio State University

One Hundred Six (106) cats

Reported by OSU on Nov. 11, 2003 to USDA/APHIS

The cats are purpose bred for research by Harlan Sprague. They will be used in a study of sepsis, a severe reaction to infection. Why cats? "The resuscitated cat sepsis model is well-established in our laboratory. The cat is more like the human in terms of its sensitivity to agents that induce sepsis."

A model is required that consistently results in bacteremia. Using the results from a pig model, OSU investigators will create the sepsis model in the cat by an infusion of live E. coli. It is expected that the cat model will exhibit the typical signs of sepsis, including hypotension and impaired cardiac contractility. Generally, the cats are killed within days of their arrival to OSU.

Fifty cats have been approved for use in this experiment which is conducted in a surgery setting of less than 6-8 hours and from which the cats do not recover.

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Since 1996, cats have been used in a protocol (96A0038) to study retroviral disease or Feline Immunodefiency Virus (FIV), The protocol was updated in 2002 (02A0047) and approved to use two hundred fifty two (252) cats. And the issue with this protocol? Is this protocol "Cats On Meth" in disguise?

Between May 2000 and June 2002, Forty-four cats were killed in a experiment "to evaluate the combined effects of FIV infection and chronic METH with acute 'binges'on immune function and viral interaction, behavior, brain function, and brain damage."

P.O.E.T., PCRM, and many other national animal rights/welfare organizations spoke out against these experiments and in June 2002, Michael Podell, the investigator, left OSU. Everyone thought the experiment was over. Time magazine ran a story, A Win For the Kitties.

"Ohio State University Veterinarian Michael Podell has spent the past two years infecting cats with the feline version of HIV, shooting them with methamphetamines (commonly known as speed), cutting into their brain tissue to examine their responses and then killing and dissecting them. His goal: to explore what happens when HIV-positive humans abuse drugs. But animal-rights activists did everything they could to stop the research, and last week, when Podell announced he was quitting the project and leaving the university, they declared victory. The university says Podell had received more than a thousand protest letters and e-mails"

However, the National Institute On Drug Abuse had some other ideas. As the story of Podells departure was coming to light, Earle Holland in an email to the OSU administration wrote, "NIH is very interested in having the work continue here under the direction of another investigator so that it doesn't look like the animal rights protestors won on this issue."

So under a new NIDA grant title, changed from Feline Model of Neuroaids and Drug Abuse to Psychostimulants and Lentiviral Infection of Neural Cell, Dr. Lawrence Mathes and Maria Hadjiconstantinou-Neff took over the experiment. Are cats now being used?

In a November 1, 2002 Columbus Dispatch story Dr. Mathes said the following:

Podell's original plan was to infect up to 120 cats with FIV -- feline immunodeficiency virus, which is an animal model for HIV in humans -- and then addict the cats to methamphetamines to see how the drugs affected the progression of the disease in the brain .So far, 42 cats have been killed to study brain changes, Mathes said. But, at least for the next year, no cats will be used because the focus now is on analyzing tissue from those already euthanized and testing viral response to drugs in cell cultures. The cultures, which Ohio State purchases, were cloned from skin or tumor cells from live or dead cats. Using them is one way to reduce the number of live animals required .Some cats may be used in the fourth or fifth year of the study to verify cell-culture results, Mathes said. But he said far fewer than 120 cats will be needed.

September 2003, five (5) cats arrive at OSU from Liberty Labs and enter protocol 020047/96A0038.

Why are we concerned? A portion of protocol, 96A0038, was used by Michael Podell to conduct his pilot study which lead to his own protocol - Cats On Meth.

Contact OSU President Karen Holbrook, holbrook.79@osu.edu, and request clarification on the status of the cats.

Contact NIDA Director Nora Volkow, nv29@nih.gov, and request that funding be immediately halted.

For other information about the Cats On Meth project visit our website: www.poetwill.org.