8A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2007
LAWSUIT
Agency accused of throwing animals off bridge
TRUJILLO ALTO, Puerto Rico — Back roads, gorges and garbage dumps on this tropical island are littered with the decaying carcasses of dogs and cats. An Associated Press investigation reveals why; possibly thousands of unwanted animals have been tossed off bridges, buried alive and otherwise inhumely disposed of by taxpayer-financed animal control programs.
Witnesses who spoke with the AP
Tongolei, formerly one of Puerto Rico's hundreds of thousands of dogs with no home, sits in a shipping kennel shortly before being flown to an animal shelter in Orlando, Fla., at the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico Oct. 26. Earlier this month, dozens of dogs and cats were seized from housing projects and hurried from a 50-foot-high bridge in an incident that has sparked international outrage.
said that, despite pledges to deliver adoptable strays to shelters and humanely euthanize the rest, the island's leading private animal control companies generally did neither.
"There is apathy. No one wants to take responsibility."
News that live animals had been thrown to
far beyond even what animal welfare activists suspected, stretching over the last eight years.
A $22.5-million lawsuit against Animal Control Solutions and city officials — including those who helped round up the animals — was filed on behalf of 16 Barceloneta families whose dogs or cats were seized under rules prohibiting pets in the city projects. The animals' deaths show "a cold and depraved heart and has stirred public outrage around the whole world," the lawsuit says.
ALFREDO FIGUEROA Animal welfare activist
their deaths from a bridge reached the public last month when Animal Control Solutions, a government contractor, was accused of inhumanely killing some 80 dogs and cats seized from three housing projects in the town of Barcelona. A half dozen survived the fall of at least 50 feet.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The AP probe, which included visits to two sites where animals were slaughtered, found the inhumane killings were far more extensive than that one incident. The AP saw and was told about a scale of brutality
Julio Diaz, owner of Animal Control Solutions and a co-founder of another company, Pet Delivery, declined AP requests for an interview but told reporters there is no proof his company was responsible for
the barceloneta pet massacre. "We have never thrown animals off any place," he said.
A police investigation into the Barcelona killings has not led to charges, but police Sgt. Wilbert Miranda, who heads the probe, said the information gathered so far indicated Animal Control Solutions was responsible. He declined to give details.
Maria Kortright, a lawyer involved in the suit, said it was clear the pets Animal Control Solutions removed from Barcelona were the same hurles off the bridge because
the survivors had been identified by their owners.
Animal welfare activists have complained to government agencies for years about allegations of
improper disposal of animals, but say officials didn't act. Preventive action also is almost nonexistent: Puerto Rico has — at least 100,000 stray dogs and cats — and no island-wide
Activist Alfredo Figueroa said the animal disposal companies acted with impunity because government agencies ignored allegations of cruelty, rather
spaying or neutering programs.
"There is apathy," Figueroa said, "No one wants to take responsibility."
than investigate the companies or address the overpopulation of strays
I'LL GET A FLUVACCINE.
The single best way to avoid getting the flu is to get the flu vaccine. Student Health Services is holding flu clinics that are open to all KU students, faculty, staff and retirees (ages 18 and over).
Cost:
Flu Shot - $15
Nasal Mist Flu Vaccine - $23
(Nasal mist for ages 4 - 49; subject to availability.)
Can't make it to a clinic? You can also get a flu shot or the nasal mist flu vaccine at Watkins Memorial Health Center by calling 864-9507 to make an appointment.
- Payable by check, cash or credit card at time of service. No insurance billing.
Medicaid and Medicare are not accepted.
Date Time Location
Tuesday, Nov. 13 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Kansas Union 4th Floor
Wednesday, Nov. 14 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Watkins Health Center
Thursday, Nov. 15 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Watkins Health Center
Monday, Nov. 19 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Watkins Health Center
Tuesday, Nov. 20 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Watkins Health Center
DON'T GET THE FLU. DON'T SPREAD THE FLU. GET VACCINATED.
Wakins Memorial Health Center
1200 Schwinger Drive
Lawrence KC 64054
(866) 843-7890
www.studenthulu.ku
KU STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES The University of Kansas
CONTRIBUTING TO STUDENT SUCCESS
RESEARCH
Scientists perform stem cell research on monkeys
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Cleaning stem cells from cloned monkey embryos, as a team of Oregon researchers has
One hurdle is ethical and political. Human embryos have to be
done, is an impressive step. But it probably won't lead to medical treatments any time soon.
destroyed to produce stem cells. That has aroused opposition to human embryonic stem cell research, and it led the Bush administration to restrict federal funding for it. Scientists say that has slowed the effort.
Another hurdle is the inefficiency of the process. Even if the method described by scientists Wednesday works in humans, it would demand too much of a precious resource — women's unfertilized eggs.
The promise of producing stem cells by cloning is that they can be genetically matched to a particular patient. So theoretically, doctors should be able to transplant tissue created from them into that person without tissue rejection. And presumably, such transplants could help treat such conditions as diabetes and spinal cord injury.
The process used in the new experiment is "quite inefficient," Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Portland told reporters Wednesday.
He and his colleagues reported getting two batches of stem cells that required using about 150 monkey eggs apiece. That's far too many if one hopes to use human unfertilized eggs, which are cumbersome to obtain from women.
If further work can get that down to maybe five to 10 eggs per stem cell batch, "we will be closer to clinical applications," Mitalipov said.
But then there's another issue -- showing that such stem cells really can be used to treat diseases safely. Mitalipov said he planned to do diabetes studies in monkeys.
For now, he and other scientists said, the new work was valuable for showing that stem cells can be produced through cloning in monkeys. It's been done in mice, but scientists had long been frustrated in their attempts in primates, where the research would be more relevant to humans.
"I am quite sure it will work in humans," he added.
The new work was published online Wednesday by the scientific journal Nature.
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