ANIMAL FORUM

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4864197-102285,00.html

Secret lab notes reveal dog cruelty

Mark Townsend
Sunday February 22, 2004
The Observer (London)

Beagles have been gassed until they passed out in secret tests to
monitor the effects of a chemical which was banned more than 15 years
ago.

Confidential documents reveal how the bodies of dogs would convulse
violently during recent experiments at the controversial Huntingdon
Life Sciences laboratory.

The news has reignited the debate over the use of animals in
experiments. Campaigners vowed last night to escalate their attempts
to close down the Cambridgeshire site while scientists defended the
experiments as essential.

Scientists used the dogs to test the effects of HCFC chemicals which,
because of their ozone-depleting properties, Ministers agreed to begin
phasing out under the Montreal Protocol in 1987. They have been banned
in foams and solvents but still exist in old equipment.

Detailed papers leaked to The Observer record how the bodies of
beagles would shake and sway as the creatures displayed various
symptoms of agitation until they finally lost consciousness. The
effects increased markedly the greater the dose of the chemical, a
refrigerant once widely used in aerosols and fire extinguishers.

Protesters claim the tests - to measure the effect of
hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) on the heart - were futile because
the substance is being taken out of use. However, scientists at the
laboratory said the experiments were crucial to understanding the
effects of the chemical on people.

The laboratory, which is protected by a 10ft security fence, is the
target of an intense closure campaign by the animal rights
organisation SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty). Protests against
the laboratory began after a TV documentary in 1997 that showed HLS
staff kicking a beagle and hurling it against a wall.

Last night a spokesman for the controversial group - which has been at
the centre of allegations involving violent and intimidatory tactics
against HLS staff - condemned the experiments as disgusting. He
warned that support for the laboratorys closure had reached a
historical high with 2,000 hardcore members prepared to battle until
the site is shut down.

In these experiments you can see dogs struggling, vomiting and
passing out. Where are the politicians condemning these experiments?
added the spokesman.

Details of the tests come weeks after a proposed flagship laboratory
at the University of Cambridge was abandoned because of the cost of
defending the building against protesters.

During the beagle testing, which ended last year, scientists fed HCFC
22 through pipes to gas masks attached to the faces of male beagles
seven to eight months old. Their notes record the dogs enduring
varying degrees of discomfort from pawing of mask, jerking of heads,
whole body tremors and an inability to focus properly.

Ultimately some of the dogs lost consciousness after being exposed to
the gas for up to 14 minutes during the experiments, conducted last
summer. Some beagles appeared subdued after the tests. A spokesman
for HLS said the dogs did not suffer lasting effects and could be
re-used in later experiments.