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

Sixty Three Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy Five (63,975) mice

Reported by OSU University Laboratory Animal Resources 2002
USDA/APHIS does not require reporting these animals
81,748 mice were approved for use in new protocols in 2003

From 2001 to 2002 OSU reported a 52% increase in the number of mice used in experiments. Obviously 2004 will be higher and in the next years the numbers of rats and mice is expected to move into the hundreds of thousands. One project approved in 1998, requested an additional 87,082 transgenic mice in January 2004. 75,660 of those mice will not be used and will be killed shortly after birth, as they will not fit into the experimental design.

There are many experiments which use mice but our focus has been on those projects where pain and/or distress is not relieved for the animals. Those experiments are designated as "E" type protocols. They generally fall into a category of experimentation which is based upon the thought that by using animals the experimenter can better ... well let the experimenter speak for themselves.

"Although most animals are symmetrical in form (that is, the left side matches the right side of the body) the symmetry is far from perfect. ...Some individuals have larger left hands than right hands....by using the mouse model, the present study aims to establish a direct link between mother's stress during pregnancy and the consequences for body asymmetry." 642 mice

"The goal of the current series of studies is to determine if stress, occurring during early development versus adult life, alters the magnitude of brain damage and behavioral disturbances that occurs as a result of cardiac arrest." Sociobiological Influences on Recovery From Cardiac Arrest - 765 mice

"The current proposal will examine whether positive social interaction can facilitate wound healing by suppressing stress hormones." I think we already know the answer but 260 Siberian Hamsters will be used for this project. Yes, I know not a mouse study but just shows this group of researchers will use a variety of animals to tinker with issues that other "scientists" already test and evaluate in humans.

And the never ending drug studies in this case - Mechanism of Drug Addiction - looking to develop a transgenic mouse to study cocaine. 2,000 mice

Does "stress influence the chance of cancer"? Let's use 210 mice and find out.

And the issue with all of these studies: "Chronic stress compromises immune function, and is a major risk factor in the progression and outcome of human disease. ... to test the hypothesis that stress influences immune function, researchers within different laboratories have used a variety of different stressors, protocols, and testing schedules. Examples include restraint stress, isolation stress, cold stress, and swim stress, (at OSU researchers also use ''fighting' stress). These different protocols have at times produced conflicting results."

This entire category of animal experimentation could halt today and there would be NO impact to human health. The monies spent for this "tinkering" could go to actually help people. The protocols above could and should be stopped. The funding for The OSU Center for Stress and Wound Healing should stop except for the work being conducted using human patients.

"True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it."
Milo Kundera
The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The mouse, considered the lesser of these, hopes for mercy from the animal experimenter every minute of every day.