Hoisting a sign and marching with several hundred others, Megan Wyeth was not just protesting in favor of animal research. She was also trying to protect the safety of her friends.
Wyeth is one of seven founding members of Pro-Test at UCLA, a group formed to speak out against animal rights extremism.
On Tuesday, the night before Pro-Test held its first rally, Wyeth said she had difficulty sleeping. She knew that making her name public might expose her to the same attacks levied against other researchers on campus.
Attacks like the one against Professor J. David Jentsch, another founding member, who woke up in the wee hours of March 7 to find his car on fire outside his home.
“I gave it careful consideration,” Wyeth said. “My name is out there now. … But if my friends, my colleagues, are threatened, then it’s not really a choice.”
In her fourth year of graduate studies in neurobiology, Wyeth was upset that top-notch professors and students were being attacked for doing their jobs.
Wyeth works with mice in her research on epilepsy ““ right now, she said, scientists don’t know how seizures start or stop, or how the disorder develops.
By studying mice, her team may be able to figure out the mechanisms of epilepsy. Scientists know people with head trauma are vulnerable to epilepsy ““ so veterans returning from war are susceptible ““ but there are no interventions to prevent it yet.
Wyeth said the public generally doesn’t realize how much training researchers undergo before they are even allowed to touch an animal.
“It seems like they think we’re sadistic or get pleasure out of using animals for research,” she said. “We minimize the numbers we have to use. It’s not my favorite part, but we have to do it.”
In the three years of her main epilepsy research, Wyeth has been working with the same six mice.
Animal researchers follow strict standards on animal welfare and work closely with veterinarians who perform laboratory examinations, Wyeth said. She added that Veterinarians are some of the most ardent supporters of animal research, and she pointed out several among the Pro-Test demonstrators Wednesday.
“All of my animals are anesthetized when I work on them. I make sure they’re out ““ extra double sure.”
Above all, she said, animal research can improve and save lives. Her younger sister, who is 25, has epilepsy and is completely dependent on their parents.
Like 25 percent to 30 percent of those with epilepsy, Wyeth’s sister’s condition is intractable and does not respond to medication.
“I value life, but I’m not a vegetarian,” Wyeth said. “There are some things that you have to study in an animal.”
And if pushed to choose, she said, “I guess I do value my sister’s life over the life of a mouse. Maybe it’s not a fair comparison.”
She said she wants productive dialogue with those opposed to animal research, sharing an anecdote about activists who distributed fliers at soccer games calling parents involved in animal research “murderers.”
“Targeting soccer games? Of kids?” she asks, her tone incredulous. She states again that violence is not a solution.
Tom Holder, a member of Pro-Test UK and of Pro-Test at UCLA’s committee, said demonstrators would ignore any animal rights activists who tried to harass them.
“We are trying to get people to get to the rally who believe in research,” Holder said Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Holder led demonstrators in call-and-repeat chants.
“Insulin?” he shouted. “Animal research!” the crowd chanted . “Antibiotics?” “Vaccines?” “Anesthetics?”
“Animal research!” they repeated.
There ended up being few animal rights activists picketing during Pro-Test, and they did so from the other side of Westwood Boulevard.
But like the scientists at the demonstration, there are other members of the UCLA community who hope to create a dialogue about testing on animals.
The Animal Law Society at UCLA and Bruins for Animals work with the university to curb animal research. Emmanuel Masongsong, a researcher at UCLA, heads the “Anti-Vivisection Campaign” for Bruins for Animals.
Masongsong, a molecular biologist and vegan, said scientists should be looking to expand their tool kit with alternatives to animal research.
“As scientists, we should be relying on all sorts of models and research to corroborate evidence, because you want to collect as much data as possible.”
He said corporations are increasingly turning to biotechnology and computer models ““ which are easier to control and fine-tune ““ to supplement or replace animal research. A recent study he cited showed that 30 percent of drug trials fail because animals respond differently than humans to chemicals.
Stem cell research also has great potential, he said, because scientists can work with human cells instead of those of other species, and can also reproduce human metabolic processes in trials, to better predict drug toxicity.
Though he supports drastic reductions in animal research ““ not just for “animal rights,” but as a way to move science forward ““ Masongsong said he distances himself completely from people who use violence.
“I would agree with (Jentsch) that you can’t have intellectual discussion with people who use intimidation,” he said.
Though Bruins for Animals is officially nonviolent, President Sonia Hingrajia said that in March, the group screened “Behind the Mask,” a documentary about the Animal Liberation Front ““ which has been associated with attacks against animal researchers.
“It’s not to say that BFA supported it, but to show the other side, as a way to bring animal rights into the civil rights debate,” Hingrajia said.
“I think that, to be honest, I haven’t completely made up my mind on the direct action thing,” she said, clarifying that threats are probably not effective.
“I think it’s much more beneficial for us to talk to our community,” she said, citing efforts to educate students and work with researchers. “Animal rights, at the end of the day, is supposed to be something peaceful, and threatening researchers goes against that ideal.”
E-mail Kuo at akuo@media.ucla.edu.