For immediate publication:
August 24, 2021
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
Las Vegas – A Las Vegas-based veterinarian and PETA consultant will be among the scientists who will present the results at the virtual conference of the 11th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences this week. Thousands of participants will be attended by Dr. Heard Ingrid Taylor and fellow PETA scientists on questions ranging from scientific and ethical concerns about permanent brain damage in primates to toxicity testing in rabbits.
As a veterinary expert working with PETA, Taylor researches biomedical experiments on animals and creates expert opinions on pain management, experimental protocols, and other animal welfare issues. Prior to joining PETA, she spent several years in the clinical veterinary practice and served in the US Air Force.
“PETA has more scientists working on cruelty-free methods than any other animal welfare organization, and we are proud to share our research at the premier modern research conference,” said Kathy Guillermo, PETA senior vice president. “Superior, cutting-edge tools are the future, and we are committed to working with the global research community to advance their use.”
PETA scientists will lead four sessions and will present two oral presentations and 16 posters. Posters from the group’s scientists, including Taylor, will include the following.
- The rodent in the room – taking sensitivity into account in research programs with mice and rats: Presented by Taylor, this poster shows how the growing scientific evidence of sentience in animals, commonly used in experiments, needs to be incorporated into harm-benefit analyzes in biomedical research.
- Global Efforts to End Animal Testing on Food and Beverage Health Claims: This poster highlights PETA’s successful efforts to get food and beverage companies to stop using animal testing to make health claims about their products.
- International harmonization of animal-free methods for biomedical training: This poster provides information on the cost-effective, human-relevant technological advances that can replace the millions of dogs, cats, rabbits, and other animals used in biomedical education each year.
- The pain problem in animal experiments: Co-presented by Taylor, this poster examines the scientific and ethical implications of the high rate of untreated pain in laboratory animals.
- In vitro Approach to assessing respiratory toxicity in human lung cells: This poster describes how human cell-based systems can replace the use of rats and mice in tests to assess how inhaled chemicals affect the lungs.
- International approaches to the implementation of alternative test methods for marine biotoxins in shellfish: This poster shows how non-animal methods are superior to tests that injected them into the abdomen of mice in detecting toxins in shellfish.
- Certain harms and unsafe benefits in animal models of studying human depression and anxiety: This poster criticizes several harmful and commonly used animal models of anxiety and depression, including the forced swim test, the tail suspension test, and the plus raised maze.
- Ethical and Scientific Concerns Regarding Continued Use of Experimentally Induced Brain Injury in Primates: This poster discusses whether it is ethically or scientifically justifiable to inflict permanent debilitating brain damage on primates.
The award-winning film Test Subjects will be shown at the conference, which portrays three PETA scientists who were pressured to experiment on animals in graduate school. The group’s scientists will also share details on their Research Modernization Deal, a sensible plan to gradually phase out ineffective animal testing in the US, EU and India.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
