Published: December 18, 2009

OSU accused of caving in to animal rights extremists

By Joe Malan, Staff Writer
Enid News

State Rep. Phil Richardson issued a press release Thursday, stating Oklahoma State University is caving in to animal rights extremists when it comes to the use of animal test subjects for infectious disease research.

Dr. Dwight Olson, of Olson Animal Hospital in Enid, agrees.

"We do research on animals to find out about diseases so we don't have to (test them) on people," said Olson, a practicing veterinarian since 1980.

Richardson's press release said he was "concerned by the actions of OSU officials, which appear designed to cater to animal-rights fanatics instead of providing a sound education in agricultural sciences."

Richardson, R-Minco, highlighted a recent decision by OSU officials announcing the cancellation of National Institutes Health research to test anthrax treatments on animals.

Richardson, who received his doctor of veterinary medicine from OSU in 1967, said the decision was consistent with others made in the past year "to curry favor with the Humane Society of the United States and the wife of the university's major donor, an avowed animal rights activist."

He was referring to Madeleine Pickens, wife of oilman T. Boone Pickens.

Olson said he, too, is concerned about some of the decisions made by the university on the matter.

"All our cosmetics are tested on animals to make sure they are safe and they're not going to cause any problems," he said. "All new drugs have to go through research for effective studies. Personally, I'd rather use an animal than my wife or my child to test out a drug."

He's especially concerned with the dangers of anthrax and the need to test the disease on animals so a proper treatment may be found.

"I just think we need to definitely know as much as we can about those diseases," he said.

Olson noted other diseases have been tested in animals in the past - the West Nile virus and the swine flu are two examples.

By watching how the disease works through animals, Olson said, humans can observe or test for any weaknesses of the strain.

Anthrax, he said, typically is a cow disease, and not a human disease, which makes it fitting to test the disease in animals.

Derinda Lowe, public relations coordinator at the Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, said discussion of the topic at the university is ongoing.

"(Richardson's) concerns are shared by many veterinarians and academics," Lowe said. "The dean and the administration are continuing to meet internally to come to some agreeable resolution."