Undercover Video Brings Small Georgia University Unwanted Attention Involving Testing on Live Animals
ByShortly after undercover footage emerged showing researchers at Georgia Regents University in Augusta performing unnecessary and painful dental experiments on dogs, the school is at the center of an "intensifying debate over medical research involving live animals," NBC News reported.
The footage, which was posted on Youtube Nov. 20 by the Humane Society of the United States, showed dogs going under anesthesia and having their teeth removed and dental implants inserted. The dogs were eventually euthanized for a sample of their jaw bones.
Since it was posted, the video, which was taken during a three-month long investigation, has garnered more than 38,000 and has stirred controversy on the 9,000-student campus, NBC News reported.
The video prompted a demonstration last week across the street from the university where several protesters told the Augusta Chronicle that they understood that some animal testing is necessary for medical advancements, but they believed the university's experiment appears to have been for cosmetic purposes - not to save lives.
"This isn't vital testing; this isn't neurology testing; this isn't anything that will prevent death for patients; this is pure vanity," Dennis Briatico, who took Jack, his 14-year-old terrier rescue, to the protest on the corner of 15th Street and Laney-Walker Boulevard, said. "They're trying to make their product better than the competitor, and they should be ashamed of themselves."
The protest was organized by the local group Helping Animal Rights Through Education.
Evan Brown, 20, told the Augusta Chronicle that he had an issue with Georgia Regents University conducting an experiment that is painful for the animals when there are already Food and Drug Administration-approved products on the market.
"Legal or not, it shouldn't be done," said Brown, with his pit bull terrier Scout by his side.
A second protest is planned for Dec. 7.
First-year biology student Hannah Kellems told the Aiken Standard she intends to transfer from Georgia Regents University after the undercover video revealed alleged animal cruelty at the school. She aspires to be an animal doctor.
"What kind of veterinarian would I be if I stuck at a school that was potentially abusing animals? That goes against everything I'm for," she said.
Dr. Mark Hamrick, senior vice president for research at GRU, released a statement last week on behalf of the university denying any wrongdoing.
"The Food and Drug Administration, which provides oversight for medical device safety and procedures including dental implants, requires preclinical studies in animals demonstrating that the device or procedure is both safe and effective for its intended use in humans," he said. "Not only do we adhere to local, state and federal guidelines, but GRU is also AAALAC International (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care) accredited, which is voluntary."
Hamrick said the dogs were obtained from a vendor licensed and inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and that they're used "infrequently" in research conducted at the university.