Lawmaker demands UI animal-testing review after watchdog flags dog experiments


The Pentacrest on the campus of the University of Iowa. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)
The Pentacrest on the campus of the University of Iowa. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — A state lawmaker is demanding the University of Iowa immediately audit its animal testing programs and pursue alternative research methods based on a watchdog group’s findings that UI researchers experimented on donated “pet dogs” who then were “euthanized and dissected, despite the available treatments.”

“Such conduct is abhorrent, barbaric, and entirely unacceptable within our state,” Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, said in his June 10 letter to the Board of Regents and UI President Barbara Wilson. “Were these actions not carried out within the confines of a laboratory, they would undoubtedly constitute criminal animal abuse.”

Taylor has urged the board and university to take three key steps:

  • Review and publicly publish findings of institutional ethical animal use standards, including shortcomings and suggested improvements;
  • Audit and publish findings of all current and pending research “to determine which individual studies and projects can be transitioned to non-animal research methods,” including which entities fund the relevant research;
  • And view its search for a new UI vice president of research “as an opportunity to work toward reducing unnecessary animal testing and implementing alternative methods of research universitywide.”

Taylor’s letter follows one the Iowa State Director for the Humane Society of the United States sent UI President Wilson in March asking the institution, in its current search for a new vice president for research, to look for candidates “who will implement policies reducing animal testing.”

The university did not immediately respond to the Humane Society’s letter, according to Collins.

“I was troubled to learn that a letter sent to President Wilson by the Iowa state director of the Humane Society of the United States, urging the institution to reconsider its practices has gone unaddressed,” Taylor wrote. “Such disregard for expert opinion is simply unacceptable. Our state’s and our institutions’ greatness are predicated on the earnest considerations of input from knowledgeable individuals and stakeholder organizations.”

In a response to Rep. Collins sent Tuesday — copying the Humane Society — UI Vice President for External Relations Peter Matthes said the lack of response was an oversight and he has asked the research office to connect with the Humane Society.

“At the University of Iowa we take the ethical treatment of animals very seriously,” Matthes said. “All of the UI’s policies and guidelines are published, and an anonymous tip line is available for those that have concerns.”

Additionally, he said, the university earlier this year received reaccreditation of its animal care programs — with that report characterizing UI’s operation as an “exemplary program.”

Regarding the dog-involved research, Matthes said, “Anesthesia was administered to the dogs.”

“When the dogs were under anesthesia, sand flies, which are vectors for transmitting the disease, sat on the dog’s ear for 30 minutes,” he said. “The dogs do not feel anything during this time.”

The university in February 2023 issued a longer Q&A about “leishmaniasis research involving dogs.” In that document, the university reported the dogs were not infected with the potentially-fatal condition for the study.

“The dogs involved in the study were previously diagnosed with leishmaniasis, a fatal disease, and then enrolled with informed consent from their caretakers,” according to the UI Q&A. “The research was initiated by the people whose dogs were suffering from leishmaniasis. Those caretakers worked hand-in-hand with UI researchers to establish what would happen during the study and what knowledge and treatments would be gained.”

Questions

Leishmaniasis, according to the UI Q&A, is a disease caused by a microscopic parasite, with symptoms including skin sores, fever, and swelling of organs. In some cases, it can be fatal.

Leishmaniasis is found in about 90 countries across the tropics, subtropics, and southern Europe, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Northern Africa, where the disease is common, leishmaniasis affects small children under age five.

Leishmaniasis spreads through sand flies, which serve as a vector for the parasite.

“Domesticated dogs often serve as a natural reservoir for the disease, meaning that human infections can occur when the parasite is passed from infected dogs to humans via sand fly bites,” according to the university.

Between 20,000 and 40,000 people die of the disease annually, and its presence is increasing in the United States.

“This research is a part of the University of Iowa’s research mission to improve and extend the life of humans and animals,” according to the UI Q&A. “The work to develop safe and effective vaccines for dogs and people is ongoing.

“At this time, there is no approved vaccine for use in people.”

Dog vaccines are licensed in Brazil and Europe but not in the United States.

“Finding ways to prevent the spread of parasites from infected dogs is critical both to help other dogs in the community not get infected, but also helps protect kids and other vulnerable populations,” according to the university.

Dogs involved in the study came in with the disease, enrolled by their caretakers, who “worked hand-in-hand with UI researchers to establish what would happen during the study and what knowledge and treatments would be gained.”

The goal, according to the university, is to develop methods for protecting people and animals from insect-borne illnesses.

“The development of new treatments for dogs often requires canine studies,” the university reported. “Animal research has discovered many remarkable lifesaving and life-extending treatments for cats, dogs, farm animals, wildlife, and endangered species.”

The UI research of Leishmaniasis was funded through a National Institutes of Health grant totaling $2.4M over five years. One of the project’s researchers also was supported by a UI Interdisciplinary Immunology Postdoctoral Training Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.

‘Outdated animal experiments’

In raising his concerns, Rep. Taylor cited recent testimony on Capitol Hill from Anthony Fauci regarding “deeply concerning revelations on taxpayer funded research.” Congressional questioning, Taylor said, revealed “distressing animal testing practices involving the allocation of tax dollars by Dr. Fauci and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.”

That funding was related to experiments involving beagles in Tunisia. And further investigation led Collins to practices “in our own state.”

In response to Matthes’ response regarding the Leishmaniasis research at UI, Preston Moore — Iowa state director for the Human Society — told the university on Wednesday that “reliance on outdated animal experiments is inhibiting a full understanding of how drugs, chemicals and other household products may be negatively affecting people’s health and hindering potential cures and breakthroughs in medicine.”

“Animal experiments are falsely portrayed as a necessary evil to guarantee human or environmental health and safety,” Moore wrote in his email to Matthes. “It’s increasingly clear that a continuing reliance on animal tests may hinder — rather than help — efforts to ensure that products designed to combat human diseases and conditions are effective.”

That, he said, is because applying what works in one species “under artificial conditions” to what works in a human in the real world has always been approximate.

“A drug that may work for mice often won’t work for monkeys, and a drug that works for monkeys often won’t work for humans,” according to Moore.

In its search for a new vice president, Moore said, UI can be a leader by considering candidates “who not only possess the necessary expertise in their respective fields but also have demonstrated a commitment to utilizing non-animal testing methods whenever possible and supporting the development of new non-animal methods.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

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