Font ResizeHundreds, perhaps thousands, of dogs and cats dropped off at Utah shelters over the years have been handed over for laboratory experimentation under a state law that requires government-run pounds to surrender animals to research institutions that request them.
Only Utah and Minnesota make these so-called "pound seizures" mandatory. The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says an undercover probe of animals allegedly mistreated during bio-medical experiments at the University of Utah indicated at least one came from a shelter.
Subsequent open-records requests by a local activist confirmed the animal transfers, and that many of the animals were former pets.
"The University of Utah is buying dogs and
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A U. spokesman confirmed that at least two Utah shelters -- Davis County Animal Shelter in Fruit Heights and North Utah Valley Animal Shelter in Lindon -- supplied animals for research between Oct. 1, 2007 and Sept. 30, 2008. PETA representatives have alleged that another facility, Tooele County Animal Shelter, also supplied pound seizure animals, but the shelter's owner denied the claim.
"I can absolutely 100 percent guarantee that no animal has
Tom Parks, vice president for research at the University of Utah, said the U. has never forced a shelter to sell pound seizure animals unwillingly. "We would never do that," said Parks.
Salt Lake County Animals Services, which operates a shelter at 511 W. 3900 South in Salt Lake City, has refused to allow pound seizures for at least two decades, a spokesman said.
"Over the years, we have informed the U. of our opinion and we haven't had one request from them," said Salt Lake County Animals Services field operations manager Shon Hardy.
One case cited by PETA involved a pregnant cat collected by a U. animal technician on July 28 from the Davis shelter. Her kittens were injected with a compound to induce hydrocephalus, or excess fluid in the brain, according to a formal complaint PETA is filing with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The mother rejected the kittens, and despite attempts to feed them by hand they all ultimately died, went missing or were euthanized without any scientific data gathered, the PETA filing claims.
Curtis Andersen, Davis County's animal care and control officer, said he was unaware of that specific case, but confirmed that his facility turned over 41 dogs and 36 cats for medical research in 2008, and 75 dogs and 26 cats so far this year -- with most, if not all, going to the U. Some of those research animals are eventually adopted, he said.
The shelter charges $15 per cat and $20 per dog sold for research, the minimum allowed under state law.
The law also specifies that only authorized institutions can obtain pound seizure animals and requires that animals be held for at least five days before being surrendered. It requires "reasonable efforts" to have the animal adopted before it is offered, something Curtis said the Davis County shelter makes every attempt to do.
"Bottom line is, they come in and we try to give them animals that are going to be euthanized anyway," Curtis said Tuesday.
Tug Gettling, director of the North Utah Valley shelter, did not respond to several requests Tuesday seeking comment.
Pound seizures are broadly condemned by animal advocates, including the Humane Society of Utah and operators of private no-kill shelters, who contend the practice amounts to a betrayal of public trust.
"Going to a shelter and taking what could have been someone's pet 24 hours before and doing experiments on the animal that cause a lot of pain and suffering simply should not be allowed," said Gene Baierschmidt, executive director of the Humane Society of Utah. The fact that 17 states ban pound seizures "makes it all the more sad that we haven't passed a law prohibiting it, too," he said.
Baierschmidt said Utah's medical research lobby is powerful and has successfully fought past attempts to change the law. But, he said, "being against pound seizures doesn't mean you're against research."
