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Public Affairs |
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Biomedical Research
Funding in FY 2008 NIH Gathers Information on Peer Review PETA Kills Animals |
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In early February, the Bush Administration
released its fiscal year (FY) 2008 spending request for all federal
agencies, including those that fund biomedical research. If this plan were
enacted—an unlikely scenario given the Democrats’ control of Congress—the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be slated to receive a cut of
about 1% compared to current spending levels. The National Science
Foundation (NSF) would receive nearly an 8% increase, funding for human
research programs at NASA would go up nearly 3%, and medical and prosthetic
research at Veterans’ Affairs (VA) would be cut less than one percent.
Requested levels and comparisons are shown in Table 1.
Because the Administration issued its FY
2008 budget proposal before Congress finalized FY 2007 funding, agencies had
to use last year’s proposed spending levels as a reference point for FY 2008
figures. So while the Administration’s proposal represented a modest
increase for the NIH relative to the original FY 2007 request, it now
appears to be a cut because Congress increased the NIH budget by more than
$600 million (see Table 1).
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The Center for Scientific Review (CSR) at the
National Institutes of Health is conducting a series of six workshops this
year to solicit feedback from the scientific community on the current study
section alignment. The purpose of these “Open Houses” is to obtain input
from the extramural community on the peer review process, and more
specifically the structure and alignment of the integrated review groups (IRGs).
IRGs and study sections were last reorganized seven years ago, resulting in
the current structure. This study is being undertaken to ensure that the
alignment of the study sections is still relevant given the current state of
the various scientific disciplines. Study sections have been grouped roughly
by topic, and a complete schedule of the Open House workshops is available
by going to the CSR website (http://cms.csr.nih.gov/AboutCSR/OpenHouses.htm).
Participants in the Open House workshops will include chairs of the relevant Standing Study Section, representatives of scientific societies, NIH leadership and senior scientists. Meeting agendas are expected to include presentations about the current study section alignment for the scientific areas in question, as well as smaller breakout group discussions on study section alignment and other scientific issues related to peer review. Questions to be addressed include whether the relevant scientific disciplines are fairly evaluated within the current study section alignment, whether emerging areas are well served, and whether there are aspects of the discipline that are not being served well by the present organizational structure. Following the meetings, materials from the workshops will be posted online for additional comments and input from the scientific community and the public. The information collected will then go to the Peer Review Advisory Committee (PRAC) which will guide implementation of any changes. The APS has had longstanding concerns about the evaluation of integrative physiology proposals under the current system, and will be represented at the workshops both by staff and whenever possible by APS members from the relevant sections. To make the best use of this important opportunity to provide input, the APS public affairs committee has launched an effort to collect data from APS members on peer review issues. Data is being collected via web based surveys administered section by section as the appropriate CSR Open House workshop approaches. The first survey, consisting of approximately 10 questions, was distributed to the APS Central Nervous System (CNS) and Neural Control and Autonomic Regulation (NCAR) sections earlier this year. The information gathered thus far has proven extremely useful in providing the perspective of scientists actively engaged in grant submission and review. APS members are invited to provide input both through the surveys and directly through the NIH website once workshop materials are posted. |
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Two employees of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) were found guilty of littering after they were
caught throwing the bodies of dogs and cats into a North Carolina Dumpster.
The incident took place on June 15, 2005 behind a Piggly Wiggly in Ahoskie,
NC. The pair, Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook, was brought to trial on charges
of animal cruelty, obtaining property by false pretenses, and littering. On
February 2, 2007, a jury found them guilty of the littering charge only.
Superior Court Judge Cy Grant sentenced them to 10 days suspended jail time,
a year of probation, 50 hours of community service and nearly $8,000 in
fines and restitution to be split between them. Although they were convicted
only of a minor offence, the 10-day trial brought to light PETA’s
unapologetic willingness to euthanize healthy, adoptable animals. Andrea
Press of Responsible Dog Owners of Eastern States called the verdict “a
disgrace.” “PETA preaches to everybody not to hurt and kill animals” said
Press, “They’re hypocrites.” The animals had come from shelters in three North Carolina counties. Animal shelters in Bertie, Hertford and Northampton County and the Ahoskie Animal Hospital had been turning healthy animals over to PETA employees with the understanding that PETA would try to find them homes. A representative from a local animal adoption organization said that it was generally believed that PETA was “taking animals back to Virginia where there is more of a chance to find them homes.” Instead the PETA employees had been euthanizing the animals in their van while still in shelter parking lots. After Hinkle and Cook were arrested, Bertie, Hertford and Northampton Counties stopped turning animals over to PETA. The revelation has shocked many. NoKillNow.com, a group of no-kill shelter activists, including some disillusioned former PETA members, has called on PETA president Ingrid Newkirk to resign. Even those in the biomedical research community who have long been wary of PETA’s misrepresentations were taken aback by the blatant deception. “The alleged killing and dumping of highly adoptable puppies and kittens is appalling and sickening behavior that must cast serious doubt on the legitimacy of PETA, and their true objectives,” said Frankie Trull, President of the Foundation for Biomedical Research. Hinkle and Cook were arrested because of an investigation that was initiated after the bodies of dead dogs and cats had begun appearing in the Piggly Wiggly Dumpster on a near weekly basis. Trial testimony revealed that not only were Hinkle and Cook following orders in euthanizing the animals, but also that other PETA employees were responsible for more than half of the dumped animals. Four lawyers representing PETA argued in the Hertford County Courthouse that the case was a conspiracy to target PETA. PETA’s legal team further insisted that, despite their testimony to the contrary, shelter employees knew the animals were going to be euthanized. According to Hinkle’s attorney, Blair Brown, shelter employees knew that “PETA kills animals.” Valerie Asbell, the district attorney for all three counties, rebutted this accusation. She asked why, if everyone knew the animals were being euthanized, did PETA employees hide the bodies in a Dumpster, rather than leaving them with the shelter. She also asked why an animal hospital with a veterinarian on staff would ask PETA employees to drive down from Virginia to euthanize its animals. This is particularly puzzling since pentobarbital, the drug used to put down the animals, is a controlled substance that neither PETA, Hinkle nor Cook is licensed to handle in North Carolina. PETA insisted that it was unrealistic to expect homes to be found for the animals. Volunteers for other local adoption efforts, however, felt differently. According to the Raleigh News and Observer, Cheryl Powell had been successfully finding homes for many Bertie County shelter animals. When PETA began working with the shelter, Powell’s help was no longer welcome, the paper reported. Meanwhile, in Hertford County, the all-volunteer group PAWS has successfully placed 182 animals in just five months, which is more than PETA adopted out nationally in all of 2005. |
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