[00:06.14]2003 Text2

[00:08.35]To paraphrase 18th-century statesman Edmund Burke,

[00:12.20]"all that is needed for the triumph of a misguided cause

[00:16.43]is that good people do nothing."

[00:19.36]One such cause now seeks to end biomedical research

[00:23.29]because of the theory that animals have rights

[00:26.22]ruling out their use in research.

[00:29.25]Scientists need to respond forcefully

[00:31.76]to animal rights advocates,

[00:33.67]whose arguments are confusing the public

[00:36.10]and thereby threatening advances

[00:37.91]in health knowledge and care.

[00:40.56]Leaders of the animal rights movement

[00:42.67]target biomedical research

[00:44.49]because it depends on public funding,

[00:47.31]and few people understand

[00:49.13]the process of health care research.

[00:52.46]Hearing allegations of cruelty to animals in research settings,

[00:57.00]many are perplexed that anyone

[00:59.22]would deliberately harm an animal.

[01:02.14]For example, a grandmotherly woman

[01:05.26]staffing an animal rights booth

[01:06.98]at a recent street fair was distributing a brochure

[01:10.41]that encouraged readers not to use anything

[01:13.35]that comes from or is tested in animals--no meat,

[01:17.75]no fur, no medicines. Asked if she opposed immunizations,

[01:23.50]she wanted to know if vaccines come from animal research.

[01:28.34]When assured that they do, she replied,

[01:31.26]"Then I would have to say yes."

[01:34.49]Asked what will happen when epidemics return,

[01:37.51]she said, "Don't worry, scientists

[01:40.03]will find some way of using computers."

[01:43.36]Such well-meaning people just don't understand.

[01:47.89]Scientists must communicate their message

[01:50.42]to the public in a compassionate,

[01:52.64]understandable way--in human terms,

[01:55.64]not in the language of molecular biology.

[01:58.97]We need to make clear the connection

[02:01.09]between animal research and a grandmother's hip replacement,

[02:05.12]a father's bypass operation, a baby's vaccinations,

[02:09.42]and even a pet's shots.

[02:12.74]To those who are unaware that animal research

[02:15.67]was needed to produce these treatments,

[02:17.78]as well as new treatments and vaccines,

[02:20.31]animal research seems wasteful at best and cruel at worst.

[02:26.27]Much can be done.

[02:27.64]Scientists could "adopt" middle school classes

[02:31.24]and present their own research.

[02:33.67]They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor,

[02:37.41]lest animal rights misinformation go unchallenged

[02:41.14]and acquire a deceptive appearance of truth.

[02:45.17]Research institutions could be opened to tours,

[02:48.50]to show that laboratory animals receive humane care.

[02:52.85]Finally, because the ultimate stakeholders are patients,

[02:57.28]the health research community should actively recruit

[03:00.71]to its cause not only well-known personalities

[03:04.24]such as Stephen Cooper,

[03:06.06]who has made courageous statements

[03:07.67]about the value of animal research,

[03:10.09]but all who receive medical treatment.

[03:12.70]If good people do nothing, there is a real possibility

[03:16.15]that an uninformed citizenry will extinguish

[03:19.90]the precious embers of medical progress.