What is happening to animals on the UCB campus??
According to the University Relations Office, over 40,000 animals are housed on campus at the Northwest Animal Facility for research purposes, located underground at the corner of Hearst and Oxford. Fifty percent are mice; forty percent are cold-blooded animals; nine percent are other rodents; and one percent are non-human primates, cats, coyotes, hyenas, ferrets, rabbits, and invertebrates. One faculty research project, aimed at better understanding the visual and auditory cortexes, involves implanting neural electrodes in cats. At UCB, these cats are purchased from commercial vendors, kept in small cages, operated on and then killed following experimentation. The research cannot be guaranteed to benefit human health and although anesthesia is used, it is not certain whether or not the animals are suffering. In some experiments, the pain response of the cats is only measured every 8 hours and the experiments last last up to eight days.
The Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy (BOAA) has been working to obtain information regarding animal experimentation and the treatment of lab animals on campus to bring awareness to students, faculty, and the surrounding community. BOAA has called on University researchers to use non-animal alternatives in research whenever possible and to improve the treatment of lab animals. In addition to its ongoing Vivisection campaign, BOAA's campaigns to help farm animals encourages students to adopt a cruelty-free diet or simply decrease their animal product consumption. These efforts include distributing information on campus about animal industries, creating a Berkeley Veg restaurant guide, and hosting events like film screenings, lectures, conferences, potlucks, and popular biannual food-giveaways on Sproul. In 2007, BOAA's work with Cal Dining led to its decision to switch to cage-free eggs in all dining halls.
For more information about BOAA, its meetings, events, and campaigns, visit: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~boaa.