Geoff Lister/The Ubyssey
A UBC activist group is taking their campaign to end animal experimentation national.
STOP UBC Animal Research (STOP), an animal rights group that started at UBC’s Vancouver campus, has begun working with other groups with similar goals at institutions across Canada.
“We started out concerned about the animals at UBC, and the more we learned about this issue, the more…[we felt] there was an urgent need to reform the way that animal research is done in Canada,” said STOP spokesperson Brian Vincent.
In the long term, STOP hopes for an end to animal testing across Canada; in the short term, they advocate for more transparency in the animal testing that is currently practiced.
For the past year, STOP has been very successful in bringing attention to animal experimentation at UBC, receiving coverage from both local and national media, as well as public responses from UBC President Stephen Toope. Their campaigns resulted in UBC sparing the lives of seven endangered sea turtles and four rhesus monkeys, all of which were slated for death.
Earlier this year, STOP joined dozens of other organizations to create the Canadian Coalition Against Animal Research and Experimentation, which included a number of nascent groups targeting institutions such as the University of Toronto, Dalhousie University, the University of Alberta, York University and the University of Victoria.
“We realized that there were little pockets of concerned citizens across Canada who were concerned about animal research going on in their communities, but they felt helpless,” said Vincent. “We’re talking about sometimes two or three people.”
The group’s first action was to send a letter to the Canadian Council of Animal Care (CCAC), an organization which oversees animal research in Canada.
The letter asked the CCAC to phase out animal testing, but in the meantime, to institute American-style reforms to make animal experimentation more transparent in Canada.
However, the CCAC responded by arguing that Canada’s animal testing laws are stringent and that animal testing in research has been declining since 1975, despite the fact of a three-fold federal funding increase for research in that same time period.
“This provides long-term evidence for the effectiveness of the CCAC system of oversight, which has operated in the majority of the Canadian scientific community during the same time period. for the past three decades,” wrote Clément Gauthier, the executive director of CCAC.
STOP moves eastward
Vincent has already begun working with some of the groups at other universities.
“We will be providing training for people across the country from STOP UBC Animal Research, so I’ll be traveling to places [and] probably the first place is Toronto. I’ve already done two Skype training sessions with them, because they’re the most active and up and running.”
Paul York, the coordinator of STOP U of T Animal Research, said that despite the fact that his group has been around for three years, they changed their name when they saw how successful Vincent’s group was. They used to be called Stop Animal Experimentation at the University of Toronto.
“Because of the work of Brian and others there, we decided to use the same name and even the same logo,” he said.
York, however, said that his group has a different style of activism than the UBC branch.
“The mood is a little bit different in Toronto than it is in Vancouver. I don’t know if people are a little more conservative here or something, [but] it’s very hard to organize demonstrations,” he said.
“So we’re pursuing the educational route. That’s not to say we’re against the colourful stuff. I think that what Brian is doing is great and I think that it’s fantastic. But honestly at this point our group doesn’t have the momentum to do that.”
York went on to say that his group has spent a good portion of the year setting up informational tables on campus outside of research facilities, as well as organizing lectures on the moral and scientific arguments against animal research.
Despite their smaller size, STOP U of T has had more luck in one area than its UBC counterpart has.
York said that his group successfully filed a Freedom of Information request with the university regarding the testing that’s done at U of T, for which they actually received information, something UBC has never given up.
“Normally they black out things like that, but we’re very lucky that we got this report, and it indicates what the species are and how they’re used,” he said.
York said that they found that over 200 experiments were done in the top two levels of invasiveness.
“And this was on pretty much every kind of species. Hummingbird, monkey, newt, rat, mice, you name it.”
According to Vincent, when they filed a similar request at UBC, they got back a 70 page document, 60 pages of which were completely redacted.
Besides the successful request, STOP U of T Animal Research has yet to receive any sort of official response from the university.
“We call it a wall of silence. They won’t engage with us. The only way they’ll ever engage with us if there’s actually press,” he said. “They don’t want to talk to us.”
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Congrats to Stop UBC Animal Research! As a UBC alum, I’m grateful that this organization has exposed the university’s horrific experiments on animals. Like many alum with whom I’ve spoken, I have withdrawn my financial support to UBC. I do not want my money to be used for cruelty.
“Pretty much every kind of species”.
Oh, okay cool. So… 9 million then. Thanks for your valuable information STOP.
They’re only “successful in bringing attention” for making stupid comments, like the one mentioned above (“Pretty much every kind of species”) or insulting people who have died
Just read that students at UBC’s Okanagan campus are now confronting UBC’s cruel experiments on animals. Good for them!
http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/news/131484968.html
Animal experimentation will never be acceptable. Treating animals as if their lives are worth less than ours is pure audacity,inhumanity and an utter disgrace. Every living being suffers pain, loneliness, fear and betrayal. Using animals for experimentation is a betrayal of the trust animals invest in us. Until we learn to respect animals, we will never learn to respect each other. Every life counts, whether it be human or animal. We must force those who violate animal rights to rise above barbarianism. Apathy on this issue costs millions of animal lives. Taking this issue public is critical. As always, I applaud PETA and its efforts for all animals subjected to needless torture and abuse, but I have no respect for those who participate in these abominable practices.
I agree, people shouldn’t wash dishes since they are torturing the bacteria
I definitely think smart-ass comments are the best way to express your opinion. It’s fine to believe that animal testing is okay (i most certainly do not). Instead of posting something suggested you suffer severe brain damage (“Stop washing dishes….duuuhhh”), maybe sort out why you disagree with a post, then say something intelligent in return.
Oh no, could it be sarcasm in response to silly arguments? Could it?
Apparently, you haven’t watched either the Colbert report or the Daily Show.
You can’t argue rationally with irrational people. Seriously, we’ve tried- you can take a look at some of the long arguments from last year. The thing is, when people like those in STOP are brainwashed, they don’t even engage in the arguments. They’ll pick at something to undermine the arguments that their opponents bring up- things like grammar, or spelling, or something totally insignificant- and then pretend like that is a refutation while their own arguments are entirely based on emotion and not any reason.
So in these cases, the only way to engage, clearly, as has been shown through previous experience, is through sarcasm and humour. Because when people refuse to see reason, you can either be sad about it, or you can feel pity for them, or you can just laugh it off when it gets thoroughly ridiculous. And unfortunately, that’s where this group is now for most people who actually know what they are talking about when it comes to animal research.
savij, if anyone suffers from severe brain damage, it’s “LORRAINE” for saying that “Every living being suffers pain, loneliness, fear and betrayal” and you too for defending this. You guys are mentally retarded (no I’m not being sarcastic now)
Their campaigns resulted in UBC sparing the lives of seven endangered sea turtles and four rhesus monkeys, all of which were slated for death. –> and how do people know this.
Also, for those interested, I’m starting my own campaign. It’s called “MORE Animal Research”. It’s aimed to get more scientists to experiment on animals- right now we’re too soft. We experiment on mice and rats. I think it’s time to take it up a notch. I think we need to start experimenting on all animals, and also on humans. I expect that the turnout from humans will be huge! I know for sure that all the STOP people are going to volunteer for my studies, because the data we can get from human experimentation is way better than from mouse and tissue research. Want to know what a cardiac drug does to a human brain? Look no further- Brian Vincent has said that his lackeys are going to volunteer to be tested
I’ve realized, together with my supporters, that there are large pockets of concerned citizens across Canada who are concerned about there not being enough animal research going on in their communities, but they feel helpless in their appeals to ramp up animal and human research. I’m talking about sometimes two or three people who are saying: “Yeah, we need animal research! Why are there all these strict regulations in place that prevent animal research unless it’s absolutely necessary? We should be experimenting on everything and everyone! I mean- take the STOP activists. They’re on about how using rats and mice is unethical because it doesn’t give us good enough models for disease, even when the models are really really close to what humans go through. It’s unacceptable that we only go that close. Obviously, we should be using humans.”
Obviously, this is a huge issue. I think it’s time for human research, don’t you? I expect that Brian Vincent will be the first to sign his name.